The Child of the Moon: The Lightning Thief
by Royal Bioforge
Summary: A blonde haired boy wakes up in a world he has never seen before. With only a note from his "new mother" as his guide, he tries to start a new life in this new world and discover his true heritage. Little did he know, he will be stuck in between a feud that could mean the end of the world.
1. New World, New Life

**CHAPTER 1**

"Urk, My head hurts."

A blonde-haired boy slowly opens his eye and found himself staring a ceiling he has never seen before. He groggily and slowly sat up to look around and he did not recognize the place he was in. It was a nice room to begin with a cabinet on the side of the room. There was a TV on its stand facing the bed. To the right, there was a night stand with a lamp on it. Further to the right of the bed, there is a balcony terrace next to the window.

He decides to stand up and look around. He checked the cabinet and found clothes that were his size and a bunch of scrolls with notes attached to them. He went to the TV to check it out, but he couldn't figure out how to turn it on not knowing that you have to plug it in first. He went over to the balcony window to look out. What he saw made mind blow. He saw buildings so tall they were poking up the clouds. He saw moving objects that he thought they were carriages pulled by horses, except, the odd thing was there were no horses pulling it.

He sat back down on the bed still reeling from all the weird things he saw. He lay back down on the bed a little hard, only to have a note flutter down to his face. He picked it up and read what was written.

_Dear Naruto,_

_I'm sorry I could not wait for you to wake up, but I'm afraid you cannot see me until the time is right. I know about your childhood and how hard it is to live all alone like that, so I took you in. I'm so sorry I couldn't get you sooner, but you're here now. That is what is important._

_I can tell you who your parents are though. Your father is the man you have looked up to and have been chasing all your life, Minato Namikaze the Fourth Hokage of the Leaf. Your mother is Kushina Uzumaki, the former Jinchuuriki of The Nine Tailed Fox. Don't blame them for leaving you on your own. It's not their fault. They died on the day you were born protecting you and the village from the Nine-tailed fox's attack. They are heroes. I am telling you this for you to know that you were loved and you were not left alone. This time though I will be watching over you._

_Well, enough of that, If you didn't notice yet, you are in a different world from where you were. You have to start over again. I have some stuff for you. In the night stand, there are some books on this world. You will need to read up on them to survive in this world. In the cabinet, you will find some clothes I picked up for you, so you could fit in with the people. There are also scrolls in there to help you in practicing your jutsu. In the drawer of the night stand, there is some money for you to spend in this world and a map of the city so you can explore._

_I know you have a lot of questions. I assure you they will be answered in time. You will just have to be patient. Also, kids your age still have to go to school, so I enrolled you to a boarding school, Yancy Academy. I heard you loved learning so I see you would not have a problem with this. Unfortunately, you will have to be careful of using your jutsu out in the open. People in this world have no knowledge of parallel worlds or special powers._

_That is all for now my boy. Just know that I love you as my own and I will be watching over you._

_Love,_

_Your New Mother_

_PS. You will have to brush up on Greek Mythology. I guarantee it will come in handy in the future._

A single tear ran down the side of his cheek. He was crying tears of joy because this time he felt loved. He was happy to know his parents loved him and didn't abandon him as what the villagers have been telling him all his childhood. He was happy to know that somebody took him in despite his past and how the villagers saw him. He was happy, that this time, he would make new friends without them judging him for what was sealed inside of him. At the same time, he was sad that he had to leave the friends he had already made back in the Leaf Village. He was scared of what he may face ahead of him.

He broke himself out of his thoughts and decided to stand up. He took a deep breath ready to take on this new world he was in. With one big shout, he said:

WATCH OUT WORLD BECAUSE NARUTO UZUMAKI IS HERE!


	2. A Furious Encounter

**Chapter 2**

It was not easy to live in a new world with no idea of what you are doing. The first thing Naruto learned in this new world was to follow the traffic lights. One that one occasion, he was almost hit by a car accidentally because he was reading a book he took a liking to, and he absent-mindedly crossed the street. Thankfully, he heard the car's horn at the last second and was able to get out the way.

It took him a few weeks to adjust and to learn about this new world. He gained a lot of knowledge due to his love of reading books. He discovered that he loved learning and buried himself in a lot of books from this world, but he quickly learned that he couldn't sit on one spot for prolonged periods. He would find a lot of time passed by when he was reading. On the other hand, when he was not doing anything, time seemed to be at a standstill.

Although he read a lot, he never forgot to keep up with his training. His chakra control massively increased and could tree climb and water walk like it was second nature. He also increased his sensory range by channeling chakra all throughout his body.

When he joined Yancy Academy, he was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) which explains why he could not stand still and why time was a passing by slowly when he was not doing anything. The guidance counselors placed him in the sixth grade which was where kids his around his age were usually at.

As for his room, he was placed in a room with a 12 year old boy with black hair and sea green eyes. This is Percy Jackson. He quickly learned that Percy also had ADHD and that he has dyslexia. Percy lives in the same part of the city as Naruto. He found out that Percy had been kicked out of every private school that he had been enrolled in due to a series of unfortunate events that happened in every school he was in.

His other roommate was a scrawny kid who must have been held back several grades. This is Grover Underwood. Grover is disabled kid with a muscular disease in his legs causing him to be crippled all his life. He had a note to excuse him from PE for the rest of his life. Although, Naruto and Percy swears he could run so fast when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

The three of them quickly became friends and were inseparable ever since. The two boys have been protective over Grover due to him being picked on by bullies. When someone tried to bully Grover, Percy always had to pick a fight with the bullies. Naruto, on the other hand, always seemingly keeps his cool whenever Grover gets bullied.

Most of the time, Grover's prankers always found themselves on the wrong end of a prank whenever they tried to pick on him. On one occasion, there were two bullies who tried stealing his lunch money. The next day, these two boys woke up only to find themselves hanging from the flagpole by their underwear while the National Anthem was playing.

Everyone in the school could not figure out who the mysterious pranker was, but Percy and Grover had a sneaking suspicion that their roommate was the one responsible for the pranks because whenever they ask him if he heard of the pranks, he would have a gleam in his eyes.

In their stay at Yancy Academy, Naruto, being an avid reader, aced his subjects, while Percy managed to get C's and D's despite his dyslexia due to Naruto's help. Naruto practically enjoyed every class he attended and managed to ignore his urges to get up and move about, but Percy just couldn't stand sitting in class and had a hard time reading.

When Naruto wasn't studying, he would sneak out of his room to go out and train. He would just leave out a clone to stay in the room to avoid suspicion and help Percy study. He absolutely loved it when he was outside at night. He felt warm under the glow of the moon, like someone's arms were wrapping around him. He also feels like someone was watching over him as he trained.

The days went by pretty much the same as always. Naruto continued to ace his classes due to his love of learning. His jutsu also managed to improve his control on the wind element and decided to start learning how to use fire chakra. Percy got into a lot of trouble because he kept on picking fights with the bullies who picked on Grover. This caused him to be on probation, which meant one more incident would cause him to get expelled. The days went on just like before until one day, Mr. Brunner announced they would be going on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged man in a motorized wheel chair who always wore a frayed tweed jacket. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard, and he always smelled like coffee. To most of the class, he didn't seem cool, but to Naruto and Percy, he was awesome and the best teacher in the school. He always told jokes and stories in class and even made them play games.

Both Naruto and Percy could not wait for this event. At the same time, Percy had his fingers crossed that the trip would go well because of his previous bad track record of ruining school trips. Naruto,, on the other hand, was determined to learn a lot on this trip and, of course, keep his friend out of anymore trouble.

* * *

**ON THE WAY TO THE MUSEUM**

The trip started out without a hitch, and Percy was determined to have normal trip without anything bad, embarrassing or even mildly entertaining happened on the trip.

Well, at least that is what he thought.

On the way to the museum, Nancy Bobofit, a freckly, red headed and kleptomaniac girl, decided to pick on Grover. She kept throwing chunks of her peanut butter and ketchup sandwich at Grover.

"I'm going to kill her," Percy mumbled.

Grover tried to calm his friend down to prevent him from picking a fight with Nancy. "It's okay. I like Peanut Butter." He said while dodging another piece of Nancy's lunch.

"That's it!" Percy said as he started to get up, only to be pulled back to his seat by Grover.

"You're already on probation." Grover reminded. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens"

"Yeah, besides some kind of miracle might happen." Naruto said with a familiar gleam in his eyes which his friends noticed. He turned around to glare at Nancy, only to have her blush at him. Despite what people think of Nancy, deep inside, she was still a girl and couldn't help but blush whenever Naruto looks her way.

"Fine" Percy said with a sigh, but he couldn't help but think what the mysterious pranker had planned today.

* * *

**METROPOLITANT MUSEUM OF ART**

When the group arrived at the museum, Grover and Mr. Brunner's face seemed to light up as they approached. It was Mr. Brunner who led the tour into the museum. Another teacher, Mrs. Dodds, followed the group and acted as chaperone.

Mrs. Dodds, was this little Math Teacher from Georgia who always wore a leather jacket, despite her age of fifty. She came around the halfway point of the school year when the previous math teacher had a nervous breakdown.

So, Mr. Brunner led the group through the big echoey hallways of the museum, past paintings of different people, marble statues of the gods and a glass case of really old pottery.

The first stop on their tour was at a bronze chariot that was enlaced in ivory. Mr. Brunner went on to explain that the chariot was created by the Athena and Poseidon. Apparently, Athena created the chariot, while Poseidon supplied the horses. At the mention of Athena, Naruto had a tingling sensation, like he was supposed to know something.

Naruto was broken out of his thoughts when Percy leaned on over and whispered something to his ear. "I bet it would be awesome to race them around Central Park."

"Sounds fun AND dangerous hehehe." Naruto whispered back.

Both boys gave each other a fist bump, while Grover sighed while looking at the boys with worry. "Gods, these two will be the death of me."

"Keep up, Honeys." Mrs. Dodds said sweetly to both boys, which broke them out of their conversation, only to see that they were lagging a bit behind.

For the next hour, Mr. Brunner took the group throughout the whole museum. He explained the different armors of Greek and Roman origin and different strategies used in the different battles during the olden times. Naruto and Percy recognized some of the paintings that Mr. Brunner told them about in class. There was one of Hercules fighting the Nemean Lion. There was another of Jason sailing across the Atlanic in his ship, the Argo. Yet another one was a painting depicting the large wooden horse that the Greeks used in Trojan War.

At their last stop, Mr. Brunner gathered the class around a thirteen-foot tall stone column with a sphinx on top. He explained that it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl their age. He also told them about the carvings on the side. Naruto, Percy and Grover tried to listen to Mr. Brunner but everyone else around them was talking so Naruto and Percy took turns telling people to shut up. Every time they told someone off though, Mrs. Dodds had an evil look on her face and was staring at the three boys.

Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art when Nancy Bobofit snickered something loudly, about a naked guy on the stele. Percy got fed up and told her off, "Will you shut up?!" Only this time it was a little louder than he meant to causing the whole group to laugh and Mr. Brunner to stop his story.

"Mr. Jackson, do you have a question?" Mr. Brunner asked Percy whose face was turning red from embarrassment.

"N-no sir," Percy managed to mumble out causing more snickers to come out from Nancy's group. Naruto glared at the group causing Nancy to get flustered and turn pink all over her face.

Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele, "Well then, perhaps you can tell me what this picture represents?"

Percy looked at the carving and was relieved that he knew what it was. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

"Yes," Mr. Brunner said obviously not satisfied with answer. "And he did this because?"

"Well…" Percy racked his brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god and-"

"God?" Mr. Brunner asked?

"Titan," Percy corrected. "And he didn't trust his kids who were the gods. So, um, he ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad Kronos into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"

"Ewww!" said the girls listening behind them.

"Then there was a big fight, and the gods won." Percy continued earning a nod of approval from Mr. Brunner.

"That's correct." He said. "Then the world came to be ruled by the Twelve Olympian Gods, with the most powerful being the three brothers, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. Ever since-"

"Ever since they started to rule, the gods came down to earth in order to hook up with mortals because they couldn't keep it in their pants." Naruto spoke up, earning a round of laughter from the group.

"That is correct, Mr Uzumaki. Can you tell me the correct term for these children the gods have with mortals?" He asked Naruto as he studied him with amused eyes.

"Demigods," he answered. "Part mortal, Part god"

"Can you name some of them, then?" Mr. Brunner asked

"Urm…" Naruto tried to think. "Well there were Hercules and Perseus who were sons of Zeus" He looked at his fried as he said the latter knowing that he was named after him.

"Plus there was Theseus who was a son of Poseidon." He continued.

"That's correct, Very good Mr. Uzumaki. It's good to see you are listening in class."

At the back of the group, Nancy mumbled to her friends, "Like we are going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids'"

As if on cue, Mr. Brunner asked "And why, to paraphrase Ms. Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life? Do you know Mr. Jackson?"

"Busted," Grover muttered with a smirk on his face

Percy tried to think, but could not come up with an answer, "I'm sorry sir. I don't know"

"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed, but his eyes lit up again when he saw Naruto raise his hand.

"Sir, I guess it's because we can learn from the past mistakes of the gods in order for us not to repeat them." Naruto said

Mr. Brunner smiled. "Full credit for you, Mr. Uzumaki, Half credit for you, Mr. Jackson. On that note, I believe it is lunch time. Mrs. Dodds, will you lead us outside?"

Naruto followed the group, but Percy was pulled aside by Mr. Brunner so he could talk to him. Naruto and Grover looked back to him, and Percy mouthed "I'll see you outside." The two boys nodded and headed for the exit with the group.

On another part of the exhibit where there were statues of the Olympian Gods, Naruto saw some of them in the corner of his eyes. Curiosity got the better of him, so he entered the room and marvelled at the statues he was seeing in front of him.

He looked around the room and saw a staue of a beautiful woman wearing a dress that stopped just above her knee and was holding a bow in one hand and an arrow on the other hand. He spotted a plaque in front of the statue, and he read it.

Naruto couldn't help but feel familiarity as he was looking at the statue, like all those times he was training out in the open at night as he was bathed in the moonlight. The statue's gaze just felt like all those times.

He was broken out of his thoughts when Mr. Brunner wheeled in next to him.

"Artemis," Mr. Brunner said. "Goddess of the Hunt, Moon, Childbirth, Wild Animals and Chastity"

"Hehe, sorry for getting separated from the group Mr. Brunner. I just got curious of the statues in here. I felt like I was drawn to them." Naruto said while scratching the back of his head

"That's okay, my boy. It's good to see you are interested in history." Mr. Brunner replied with a small smile on his face. "Come on now. You must be hungry."

As the two were about to leave, Naruto had one last look at the exhibit and saw two more notable figures. A woman dressed in battle armor, and a man with winged sandals and a helmet carrying a staff with two snakes wrapped around it. For the second time today, he felt like he was supposed to know something, but his mind couldn't wrap around it, so he just shrugged it off and headed out.

* * *

**DURING LUNCH**

The class gathered at the steps of the museum as they watched traffic zip by across Fifth Avenue. Overhead, storm clouds were brewing which the three just figured it was global warming or something. Despite the terrible weather, their other classmates do not seem to notice it.

The trio sat on the edge of a fountain eating their lunch when Grover asked "Detention?"

"Nah," Percy said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he would lay off me sometimes. I mean, I'm not a genius unlike our friend here." Percy said looking at Naruto who was slurping on his fifth cup of instant ramen he brought just for the trip.

Naruto just let out a burp, and Grover just shrugged and said "Can I have your apple?" to which Naruto chuckled.

The three looked over to their classmates who were pelting poor pigeons with crackers. One frizzy, red-headed girl was pickpocketing a pedestrian.

A few minutes later, Nancy and her friends came over to the trio and decided to dump her lunch on Grover.

"Oops," she said while said with a grin, trying to avoid the glare that Naruto was giving her.

Percy was so angry that he stood up like he was to pick another fight, but he heard a wave roar in his ears. Then, all of a sudden, Nancy was in the fountain making a loud and audible splash catching the attention of everyone, especially one Mrs. Dodds.

The whole class whispered amongst themselves. "Did you see?"

"The water–"

"–Like it was grabbing her"

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to them, with triumphant look in her eyes. Naruto couldn't believe how fast she got there. He didn't even see her walk towards them.

"Mr. Jackson, come with me." Mrs. Dodds said.

"No it was me! I pushed her!" Grover quickly said.

"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood." Mrs. Dodds replied as he glared at Grover which scared the boy to death.

"But–" Grover tried to say something else but he was cut off by Mrs. Dodds

"YOU WILL STAY HERE"

"It's okay Grover. Thanks for trying." Percy comforted.

As the two were leaving, Grover was looking at Percy and Mr. Brunner back and forth hoping that the latter would notice.

Grover yelped when Naruto patted his shoulder and asked "What's the matter Grover? Why were you trying to cover for Percy? And why the pale look on your face?"

"I," Grover couldn't answer causing Naruto to just stand up.

"Wait, where are you going?" Grover asked when he saw Naruto stand-up"

"Bathroom," Naruto quickly replied.

* * *

**INSIDE THE MUSEUM**

Naruto went out of the bathroom only to hear screaming coming from a part of the museum..

"That sounds like Percy." He said to himself. "I'd recognize that scream anywhere."

Naruto bounded toward the sound of Percy's scream only to run in to him trying to run away from something.

"Geez Perce, What's–" Naruto was cut-off when he saw what Percy was running from.

"**Where is it?"** A strange bat-like creature with long talons and leathery wings asked with a scratchy voice. **"I won't ask again."**

"Perce, what the hell is that thing talking about?" Naruto said while he was standing up. He held a stance with one arm behind his back and the other arm in front of him in a 'come' jesture.

"I-I don't–" Percy stuttered.

The creature lunged obviously targeting Percy.

Percy braced himself for the worse when he heard his friend behind him shout.

"**WIND STYLE: GREAT BREAKTHROUGH,"** Naruto shouted as he breathed out wind from his mouth causing the creature to be sent back flying the opposite direction.

"Naruto, what was–" Percy was cut off when he heard a shriek coming from the other direction.

They saw the creature standing up again when they heard the familiar wheel chair of Mr. Brunner wheeling in towards their direction.

"What ho, Percy, Naruto!"

Mr. Brunner threw two objects which elongated and became weapons. Naruto snatched two kunai out of the air. These pair of weapons oddly has three blades instead on one and was in a perfect mix of black, silver and bronze. Percy, on the other hand, caught a medium-length, double-bladed sword which he immediately recognized.

They didn't have time marvel at their newly acquired weapon when the creature shouted, **"YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!" **

Mrs. Dodds lunged again shouting **"DIE HONEYS!"**

Naruto, who was quick on his feet, charged the creature. It did not have time to react when Naruto jumped in front of him and sliced at the creature's side and delivered a drop kick right at its head.

"Percy!" Naruto shouted to his friend.

Percy, who was stunned by all he was seeing, jumped into action as he saw the creature falling to the ground making small cracks at the site of impact. Percy charged the creature and slashed across its chest as it struggled to stand up again.

The creature vaporized on the spot and exploded to yellow powder, leaving the stench of sulphur in the air. The two boys looked in shock at the aftermath of what transpired.

Naruto walked up to Percy and asked, "What was that thing?"

"T-that was Mrs. Dodds." Percy managed to stutter out to the shock of Naruto.

"What was that just now, the thing you shouted?" Percy asked.

"Believe me, you wouldn't even believe me if I told you." Naruto replied.

So Naruto explained to Percy where he came from only adding to the shock of Percy. Naruto made Percy promise to keep everything that transpired to himself.

Both boys were shocked again to find that Mr. Brunner was not there again, so they just shrugged and blamed everything on their imagination and decided to leave.

* * *

**BACK AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE MUSEUM**

Grover was still sitting in the same spot where they were. Clearly, he something was scaring him. Beside him, Nancy Bobofit was still standing there grumbling something to her friends

"I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt." She said when he saw the two boys approach.

Both boys were puzzled with the mention of the new name, so Percy asked, "Who?"

"Our teacher. Duh!" Nancy replied clearly annoyed.

Percy just had a puzzled look on his face. Nancy got even more annoyed so she just rolled her eyes and walked away with her friend. She took one last look back at the blonde who was glaring at her, and she ran away with a blush clearly visible on her cheeks causing her friends to run after her.

They asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was and who was Mrs. Kerr.

At first Grover stared at them and laughed nervously like the two boys were saying some sort of joke. Then, he said, "Who?" without looking them in the eye.

"Not funny, man." Naruto said. "This is serious."

They saw Mr. Brunner on his wheel chair like he had never moved out of his spot. They decided to approach him.

As the two boys approached, Mr. Brunner looked up a little distracted, "Ah those would be my pens. Please bring your own writing utensils in the future, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Uzumaki."

It was Naruto who decided to ask. "Sir, where is Mrs. Dodds?"

He stared blankly at the two boys and replied, "Who?"

"The other chaperone, Mrs. Dodds. The Pre-Algebra teacher," Percy said.

He frowned and said, "Percy, Naruto, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds in Yancy Academy. Are you boys feeling alright?"

Both boys just nodded even more bewildered than before. That just left both boys with more questions than answers.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys! I never expected such a response on this story. To be completely honest, I just started writing this story because there are not much stories about Naruto and Percy Jackson. The stories are just cut short without even finishing so I decided to write my own. Also, I am quite a grammar nazi, my brain hurts when reading the stories. So yeah that is basically why.**

**As you can see, this chapter is a lot longer than the previous one because I intended the first chapter to be a prologue of sorts. Expect longer chapters from now on. **

**I just want to thank you for the response this story is getting. I also ask if you have anything to suggest about the plot and pairings, just leave a review. Thanks again. Royal Bioforge out**


	3. The Socks of Death

**Chapter 3**

Naruto had experience doing pranks. He was practically an expert when it comes to these things, but he couldn't wrap his mind around this incident. It had been weeks since that little incident happened in the museum. Naruto and Percy had been going from student to student to ask if they knew anything about Mrs. Dodds, but every student they asked just looked at them as if they had gone insane. It's just like the whole school was in on a little secret, and they were keeping Naruto and Percy in the dark. However, there was one person who could not convince them that they were just imagining things.

Every so often, they would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference in their classmates, just to see if they could trip them up, but to no avail. Well, except for one Grover Underwood. Grover couldn't keep up the ruse. He would hesitate when asked, and then he would claim she never existed.

This made them think. Something HAD happened in the museum.

The weather worsened as days went by, as did Percy's mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew open the windows in their dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever was spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from the school. One of the current events they studied in social studies was the unusual amount of planes that went down in the Atlantic this year.

Grover and Naruto started to feel worried about their friend. Percy started feeling cranky and irritable. He got into more fights with Nancy and her friends, especially when Naruto was not around. Also, even with the blonde's help, Percy's grades slipped from C's and D's to F's.

Finally, when Mr. Nicoll asked Percy for the millionth time why he was too lazy to study for spelling tests, Percy snapped. He called him an old sot. Naruto was really pissed that the teacher didn't know how to handle the children with special needs, but he decided to keep it to himself.

The headmaster sent a letter to his mom the following week, Percy was not invited back to Yancy Academy for the next year, but Percy didn't mind. Naruto figured he was feeling homesick and wanted to see his mom again.

Days passed more and more and exam week got closer. Naruto, as usual, was burying himself in books studying for every subject he had in school. Percy, on the other hand, only studied Latin, since Mr. Brunner is his favourite teacher, of course with help from his blonde friend.

On the night before the exam, Naruto was just lying on his bed resting his head from the tough week of getting ready for their exams. Percy was still trying to study. According to Percy, the words kept swimming across the page and circling around his head. He got so frustrated that he threw his book across the room.

He paced the room as Naruto watched him walk back and forth.

"Need help?" Naruto offered.

"I would love too, but I hate to mess up your concentration, and I know your head hurts from all that studying."

Naruto smiled that his friend was still thinking of him even though he needed help himself.

Naruto thought for a while and said, "How about we go ask Mr. Brunner for help? I'll even go with you."

"Will he be willing to help?"

"Of course! He is a teacher after all. Besides, I need a walk to stretch my muscles a bit."

And so Naruto and Percy made their way to Mr. Brunner's office.

* * *

**IN THE HALLWAYS OF YANCY ACADEMY**

Naruto and Percy walked through the hallways of the school on the way to Mr. Brunner's office. They saw most of them were dark and empty. Well, except for one. Mr. Brunner's door was ajar and light from the room was seeping through the window.

When they were both about three steps from the door, they heard a voice who was definitely Grover say, "…worried about Percy and Naruto, sir"

Both of them were surprised at the mention of their names. What's more, they were wondering why Grover was worried about them. Usually, it would be them who would be worried about Grover because of the constant bullying. Curiosity got the better of them, so they leaned in closer to listen in.

"…alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean a Kindly One in the school! Now, that we know for sure, and they know too–"

"We would only make things worse by rushing them." Mr. Brunner said. "We need Percy to mature more, and besides, I'm not really sure about Naruto. He is very mysterious; I'm not sure of what to make of him."

Naruto eyes widened. "_Do they know who I am? How did they figure it out?" _He said internally

"But they may not have time, especially Percy. The summer solstice dead-line–"

"Will have to be resolved without them, Grover. Let Percy enjoy his ignorance while he still can, and keep Naruto in the dark along with him?"

"Sir, they saw her…"

"Their imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The mist over the students and the staff will be enough to convince them of that."

"The mist?" Naruto thought. He looked at Percy who had the same dumbfounded look on his face.

"But they have been asking question after question. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

"You have to Grover. I know they have become your friends during your time here, but this will keep them safe."

"Sir, I...I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice cracked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed, Grover." Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping them alive until next fall–"

THUD

Percy dropped his mythology book which caused Mr. Brunner to fall silent.

"Shit," Naruto said as he grabbed Percy and the Mythology book with one swift motion and silently disappeared into one janitor's closets close by.

CLOP CLOP CLOP

Naruto and Percy could hear what he thought were hoof sounds on the floor, then a sound like an animal shuffling right outside the door. They could see a large dark shape paused in front of the door and stopped. Naruto sat there with a hand over Percy's mouth to prevent him from making a sound

Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since winter solstice."

"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn–"

"Go back to the dorm." Mr. Brunner told Grover. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."

Grover sighed. "Don't remind me."

The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.

Naruto and Percy waited until they were sure no one was outside, which seemed like forever.

They went back to the dorm where to find Grover lying on the bed like he has been there all night.

"Sup G-man!" Naruto and Percy said at the same time.

"Hey guys!" Grover greeted back, but he frowned when he saw the look on Percy's face. "Geez Perce, you look awful. Is everything alright?"

"Just…tired," Percy managed to say.

Percy immediately turned away so Grover couldn't read his expression. Naruto studied Percy. He knew that what they heard a while back was getting to him. It bugged him too. He couldn't understand what kind of danger they were talking about."

* * *

**THE NEXT DAY**

Naruto, after finishing the Latin, had a big smile on his face, obviously confident that he did well.

Percy, on the other hand, looked like he suffered through the exam he was taking. The letters, as usual, were swimming off the page, and he was reeling from all the Greek and Roman names he had misspelled.

Naruto saw Percy walk out of the door only to hear Mr. Brunner call him back inside to talk to him. Before Percy walked back in, they looked at each other worried that they may have found out about the eavesdropping they did yesterday.

Naruto channelled chakra to his ears so he could listen in.

"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy Academy. It's…it's for the best."

He heard that Mr. Brunner's tone was kind but he could just imagine what Percy might feel like hearing those words from his favourite teacher. "_Percy's not going to like that." _He said to himself

"Okay sir." Percy managed to mumble out a reply.

"I mean…" Mr. Brunner struggled to find the words to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."

"Right," he said back with a trembling voice.

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say…you're not normal Percy. That is nothing to be–"

"Thanks," Percy blurted out. "Thanks for reminding me."

Naruto heard Percy begin to walk out. He saw the door open and saw Percy with a long face. He patted his friend on the back before walking back in to talk to Mr. Brunner and say his goodbyes to their favourite teacher. He saw Mr. Brunner contemplating on the things he said to Percy.

"That could have gone better, Mr. Brunner. Percy looks like he had an earful from you." Naruto said as he approached their teacher.

"Hmmm, yes," Mr. Brunner nodded as he saw Naruto. "Perhaps I may have been too hard on him."

"You just wanted the best for him. He will understand eventually" Naruto replied earning a look of appreciation from Mr. Brunner.

"Yes, well, how about you, Mr. Uzumaki? Will you be returning here next year?"

"I don't think so Mr. Brunner. Since Percy isn't coming back again, I might go to where he would transfer and keep him company, maybe keep him out of trouble too."

Mr. Brunner nodded, "You're a good friend Naruto. Percy and Grover are lucky to have you looking out for them."

Naruto smiled, "Thanks Mr. Brunner for everything. I guess I'll see you around."

They shook hands and said their goodbyes before Naruto headed out.

* * *

**LAST DAY OF THE TERM**

Naruto and Percy packed their bags getting ready to go home. Percy contacted his mom in order to let her know that Naruto might be spending the summer with them since he lived alone. They headed out once they made sure they didn't leave anything.

As they made their way out, they could see everyone staring at them, more particularly at Naruto. It looks like he made quite the impression on his school mates. The girls watched them go out sadly knowing that the blonde was not coming back to the school next year.

Both boys couldn't care less about anyone else about the others, but they dreaded saying goodbye to their best friend, Grover. It turned out, though, that he booked a ticket on the same Greyhound as the two, so they were together again, heading for the city.

During the whole bus ride, Grover was fidgety, and glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers as if worrying about bullies as usual.

Finally, Percy leaned over to Grover and whispered, "Looking for Kindly Ones?" Naruto saw what Percy did so he leaned over to listen in.

Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-What do you mean?"

"We kinda listened in on your conversation with Mr. Brunner." Naruto confided, while Percy nodded.

"Oh, not much," Naruto said.

"What's the summer solstice deadline?" Percy asked out of curiosity.

He winced. "Look Percy, Naruto…I was worried about you two, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers…"

"Grover–," Percy tried to cut him off.

"And I was just telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and…"

"Grover, man, you're a really bad liar." Naruto said pointing to Grover's ears. "Whenever you lie, you get all flustered and your ears turn pink."

From his shirt pocket, he fished out grubby business cards and gave one to each of his friends. "Just take these, okay? In case you need me this summer."

The card was in fancy script which was murder to Percy's eyes, but Naruto was able to read it. The card said:

**GROVER UNDERWOOR  
**KEEPER  
HALF-BLOOD HILL  
LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK  
(800) 009-0009

"Hmmm, fancy hehehe" Naruto said.

"What's half–"

"Shhh, Don't say it out loud!" He yelped. "That's my summer address."

Percy was upset from hearing that, while Naruto was just surprised. They never considered Grover to be rich like the other snobby kids back at Yancy.

"Okay," Percy said glumly. "So, like, if I wanted to visit your mansion."

Grover nodded, "Or...or if you need me"

"Why would I need you?" Percy asked.

Naruto was just silent about the whole thing not sure about how he should make of this, until he heard Percy say that. "Geez Perce, go easy on the guy."

Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple, "Look Percy, Naruto, I-I kinda have to protect you"

They just stared at him until they heard a grinding noise under their feet. Black smoke poured out of the dashboard, and the stench of rotting eggs permeated through the whole bus. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound to the side of the highway.

The passengers groaned in disappointment at what happened. The driver went out to the engine compartment and started clanking at the engine to try and get it to work. After a few minutes of no success in tinkering with the engine, the driver announced that everyone should get off the bus.

They were stopped at a stretch of country road – no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On their side of the highway, there was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat was an old-fashioned fruit stand.

On the stand were heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting under the shade of the maple trees, knitting the biggest pair of socks anyone has ever seen.

The socks were the size of sweaters, but you would never mistake them to be sweaters. Clearly, they were socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle help an enormous basket filled with electric blue yarn.

All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied in white bandanas, bony arms sticking out of bleach cotton dresses. That weirdest thing was they were looking straight at Percy.

The blood on Grover's face drained and his nose was twitching.

"Uhh Grover," Naruto tried to call Grover's attention.

"Percy, tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"

"Yeah, weird huh? You think those socks would fit me?"

Naruto just chuckled.

"Not funny Percy. Not funny at all."

The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of gold and silver, long bladed scissors, like shears. Both boys heard Grover gasp as if catching his breath.

Grover pulled both boys by their arms. "Come on, we're getting on the bus."

"Hey watch it!" Both boys said at the same time.

As they were about to go, the middle one cut the yarn which the trio heard across the four lanes of traffic. The other two balled up the electric blue socks, leaving Percy and Naruto wondering for who it might be.

At the rear end of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. Surprisingly, the bus shuddered and the engine roared it back to life.

The passengers cheered.

"Darn right," the driver yelled. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board."

Naruto noticed that Percy was feverish as if he got the flu and Grover was shivering and his teeth were chattering.

"Uhh Grover?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah?"

"What are you not telling us?"

Grover dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "What did you guys see at the fruit stand?"

"You mean the old ladies?" Percy asked. "What about them? They're not like…like Mrs. Dodds are they?"

Grover's expression was hard to read, but Naruto and Percy had a feeling that it was something. He said, "J-just tell me what you saw."

"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn." Percy said.

Grover closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers. Naruto thought that he might have been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something much older.

"You saw her snip the cord." Grover said starting to panic.

"Yeah, so?" Percy asked but there was no answer from his friend

"This is not happening." Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."

"What last time?" Naruto asked, still Grover didn't answer.

"Always the sixth grade. They never get passed the sixth grade."

"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me." Grover said to both boys.

Both boys nodded at his odd request.

"Is this like a superstition or something?" Percy asked.

Still no answer

"Grover, does the snipping of the yarn mean someone is going to die?"

Grover looked at both boys mournfully, like he was already picking which flowers would work best at their funeral.

The rest of the trip was silent. Nobody dared to say anything else. Naruto studied his two friends. Percy was visibly shaken by what happened and Grover kept mumbling to himself about some kind of failure he had in the past.

Naruto just thought. "Grover, what are you hiding?"

* * *

**A/N: ****Hey guys! This one doesn't have that much action so it is shorter than the previous chapter. Thanks for the Follows and Favorites.**

**To address some questions in the reviews:  
(1) Naruto would start out as his Post-Chunin Exam Form, but he will eventually progress to his Shippuden self**

**(2) It doesn't sit right with me to pair Zoe and Naruto, since Zoe has a bad relationship with men and I doubt she would give Naruto a chance. **

**(3) Yes, Kurama is still inside Naruto. **

**I'd also like to hear from you guys if you would want any other Naruto characters to appear in the story and who should be their godly parent? If you have comments and suggestions, just leave a review.  
**


	4. Grover has hooves?

**Chapter 4**

_Brush up on Greek Mythology_

This rang throughout Naruto's mind all throughout the bus ride. His adoptive mother told him to do this when he got to this world. At first, he thought nothing of it thinking that his mother just wanted to share one of her hobbies to him, but now, he wasn't so sure about it.

He sat on the bus thinking about the things that happened so far. He remembered the attack of Mrs. Dodds, the batlike creature, to which he remembered, was a fury. He also remembered that every time he took a whiff of Grover, he smelled like goat, making him remember reading about a breed Then, just recently, there were the three old ladies who were weaving a huge sock with electric blue yarn to the list of weird. He tried to think about where in Greek Mythology he read about them. _"It's them, isn't it?"_

He believe it. "_Could it be? It couldn't be a coincidence."_

"Naruto, we're here." Percy called Naruto's attention.

With all the thinking Naruto was doing this whole trip, he didn't even notice they have arrived at their destination. He noticed Grover was still mumbling, "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be the sixth grade?" to himself as they made their way out of the bus.

When they got off the bus, Grover said "Guys, promise me that you will wait for me here." with hands of his pants jumping.

"Promise," Percy said, but Naruto was just silent still thinking about all the things that happened.

He made a beeline to the nearest restroom without waiting for Naruto's response. Instead of waiting, Percy pulled Naruto outside.

"Wait! Percy, didn't you promise Grover that he could walk you home? We shouldn't do this to him. " Naruto protested.

"Look Naruto, I know this is rude to him, but I want to see my mom now. So, just choose, either come with me or wait for Grover."

Naruto was torn between the two of them. He keeps Kakashi's teaching, 'Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are even worse than scum,' to heart, but he didn't want to leave either of them.

"_Damn it!"_ Naruto thought. "Just a second, then."

He ran to an empty alleyway and made the handsigns. "**SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!**"

"Keep an eye on Grover; I don't want him to get hurt or anything. Dispel when you think the time is right and do not let anyone, including Grover see you." The Clone nodded. He made a half ram hand sign, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The real Naruto ran back to Percy.

"What did you do?" Percy asked.

"I made a clone to keep an eye on and follow Grover." Naruto answered.

Percy just left it at that, since he wanted to go home as soon as possible

Percy and Naruto caught the first taxi they could get to Naruto and Percy's apartment.

**PERCY AND SALLY'S APARTMENT**

Percy opened the door to a revolting sight. He saw Gabe playing poker with his friends. The television blared ESPN, but nobody was watching. Chips and Beer cans were strewn over the carpet

Gabe Ugliano is Percy's stepfather. Right now, he looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift store clothes, and he reeked of moldy pizza wrapped in gym shorts. He had three strands of hair on his head all combed over his bald scalp like it made him famous or something. He managed an Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but stayed home most of the time. Despite that, he kept on collecting pay checks and spent them on beer and cigars.

Naruto and Percy walked in the house. Gabe seemed to notice them. Hardly looking up, he said, "So, you're home, and I see that blonde punk is here again."

"Where's my mom?" Percy asked.

"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"

Naruto glared at Gabe. He knew the drill. Gabe expected Percy to provide his gambling money calling it their 'guy secret.'

"I don't have any cash," Percy told him.

Gabe raised a greasy eyebrow. He didn't believe him. He, like a bloodhound, could sniff money from a mile away, which was surprising since his own smell should have covered up everything else.

"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six or seven bucks in change. Somebody expect to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"

Eddie, the super of the apartment building looked at Percy with sympathy. "Come on Gabe. The kid just got here. "Come on, Gabe, the kid just got here."

"Am I right?" Gabe repeated firmly this time.

Before Percy was about move when Naruto, who during his days in Yancy Academy done a lot of training with Genjustu, put a hand on Percy's shoulder and whispered on his ear, "Wait, Don't. I'm going to play some mind games on him." He cast an illusion on Gabe and his friends, Naruto made all of them on the poker table see Percy dig out a wad of cash from his pocket and threw the money on the table and say "I hope you lose."

Percy and Naruto turned around to go to the former's room. On their way to the room, they heard Gabe say, "Your report card came in brain boy–"

They didn't hear what Gabe said because they slammed the door to Percy's room. Well, it wasn't really Percy's room. During school days, it was Gabe's "study," but he didn't study anything except old car magazines. He just loved to shove Percy's stuff in closets, leaving muddy boots on the windowsill, and do his best to make the room smell like his nasty cologne, stale beer and cigars.

Percy dropped his suitcase on the bed while Naruto left his by the wall.

Both of them had things on their mind. Percy had the look of fear on his face as he remembered Grover's look of panic when he made the both of them promise that he would walk the two boys to the house. Naruto, on the other hand, couldn't shake the thoughts he had off his mind. It was bothering him.

Then, both boys heard a female voice call out to them. "Percy? Naruto?" She opened the door to see both boys sitting on the bed.

This is Sally Jackson; Percy's mother and, according to him, the best person in the world. Her own parents died when she was five, and she was adopted by her uncle who didn't care much for her. Naruto's respect for her grew when he learned that she was still pursuing her dream to be a novelist, which at the moment she was nowhere near achieving. It made him remember his old dream of becoming Hokage.

All her life, it seemed that misfortune followed her, but she got a break when he met Percy's dad. She didn't like talking about him that much because it makes her sad, and Percy didn't have a lot of memories of him, only the faintest glow of a smile. They weren't married and their relationship was a secret. Then, one day, he left for an important journey and never came back. Sally termed it as 'lost at sea.'

She raised Percy all by herself, which wasn't easy, but she never complained, not even once. She worked odd jobs and took night classes to get a high school diploma. What puzzled Naruto was why Sally married Gabe and continued to stay with him despite the way he treats her.

When she first met Naruto, her heart just melted when she learned that he was just like her. She learned that Naruto was living by himself. She was relieved when she learned that Naruto was supported by his adoptive mother. She also offered Naruto to be his guardian to which he gladly accepted, and ever since, Naruto has been coming over, much to Gabe's annoyance.

So, Sally entered the room, and immediately hugged both of them.

"Oh Percy, I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas. She said. "And Naruto, I hope you loved the candies I sent you."

Today, she was wearing her Sweets on America uniform which smelled like chocolate, licorice and other candies she brought from their store at the Grand Central Station. Just like always, she brought home a huge bag of "free samples."

They sat on the edge of the bed while Percy attacked the blueberry sour strings and Naruto ate the orange gummies. She ran her fingers through the boys' hair and demanded to know everything the two didn't put in the letters. She didn't mention anything about Percy's expulsion like she didn't care about it. She cared more about her two boys' well-being.

Percy complained that she was smothering both of them, but secretly, he was really, really glad to see her. Sally saw a tear drop from Naruto's eyes.

"Naruto, are you okay?" She asked.

"Y-yeah, it's just this stuff is new to me."

Sally smiled and wiped Naruto's tear with her finger.

From the other room, Gabe shouted, "Hey Sally! How about some bean dip, huh?!"

Percy and Naruto frowned.

For her sake, Percy and Naruto tried to sound upbeat as they told her everything that happened. Percy started to choke up and Naruto felt sad when they remembered Grover and Mr. Brunner.

When they made it to the museum trip, Percy looked at each with fear in their eyes.

"What? Did something scare you?" She tried to tug at their conscience, trying to extract the secrets from them.

"No mom/No Aunt Sally"

The two boys felt bad for lying, but she just pursed her lips. She didn't push them.

"I have a surprise for you," she said. "We're going to the beach."

"Montauk?" Percy asked, his asked sparkling.

"Three nights, same cabin"

"When?"

"Right after I get changed. Naruto, you are always welcome to come."

"Oh, urm" Naruto stammered. "I-is it okay? I might be in the way."

"No no Naruto, not at all." She said moving her hands through Naruto's whisker marks, which tickled him.

"All right then." Naruto decided.

Gabe appeared at the door and growled, "Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?"

Percy looked like he wanted to punch Gabe and Naruto had his fists clenched while trying to control his temper. Sally's looked at both boys. The look on her face was saying 'Be nice to Gabe for a little while. Just until we leave for Montauk.'

"I was on my way honey." She told Gabe. "We were just talking about the trip."

Gabe's eyes got small. "The trip? You were serious about that?"

"I knew it." Percy muttered. "He won't let us go.

"Of course he will." Sally said. "Your stepfather was just worried about money. That's all. Besides," she added, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole, Sour Cream. The works."

Gabe softened a bit, "So this money for the trip…it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"

"Yes honey," Sally said.

"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back."

"We'll be very careful."

"Gabe scratched his double chin. "Maybe if you hurry with that seven layered dip…and maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."

Percy and Naruto tried their hardest not to snicker since they remembered the illusion Naruto casted. The former just managed to mumble out, "I'm sorry I interrupted your incredibly important Poker game. Please go back to it right now."

Gabe's eyes narrowed. His tiny brain was probably trying to detect the sarcasm Percy used.

"Yeah, whatever," he decided. He took a look at Naruto and asked "Is Blondie coming too?"

"Yes, of course honey." Sally answered

Gabe just nodded, probably just glad that the blonde wasn't staying in their house. He shuddered when he remembered the blonde wiping him clean of money when he let him join the poker game.

"Thank you, Percy" my mom said. "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about…whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"

For a moment, there was fear in her eyes, the same fear they saw Grover had at the bus, but her smile returned. She ruffled both boys' hair and went to make Gabe's seven layer dip. After an hour, they were ready to leave.

Gabe took a break from his poker game to watch the boys lug the bags to the car. He kept groaning about losing Sally's cooking and, more importantly, his 1978 Camaro for the whole weekend.

"Not a scratch blondie," he warned as the last bag was loaded, "Not one little scratch."

"He normally saves that for me." Percy said

Both shrugged at that. Gabe made his way up to the apartment. Naruto made a half ram seal and released the illusion. After that, both of them climbed in the Camaro. Naruto made a request to stop by his apartment to get some stuff before they went on their way.

As the car drove off, one could hear a Gabe Ugliano shout out in rage. "Where's my money!"

**MONTAUK BEACH**

When they arrived at the rental cabin at sunset, Sally and Percy's faces seemed to light up. It was a located at the south shore, way out at the tip of Long Island. It was a little pastel box with faded curtains, half sunken in the dunes. There was always sand in the sheets and spiders in the cabinets, and most of the time, the sea was too cold to swim in. Despite the simple style, they both loved it.

Percy and Sally started the usual cleaning routine to which they showed Naruto. They walked on the beach, fed blue and orange corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on a variety of blue and orange candies Sally had brought from work.

Why blue and orange food you ask? Well, for the blue food, Gabe and Sally had a fight about blue food not existing. Ever since then, Sally went out of her way to cook and bake blue food from cakes to corn chips to smoothies. When Naruto came along, he got curious about all the blue food that Sally makes and Percy explained to him why. Naruto requested Sally if she could make some orange food to which Sally happily agreed.

When it got dark, they made a fire. Sally was impressed that Naruto could make a fire so easily; Naruto just said he went camping a lot as a kid. Sally told them stories about the books she wanted to write someday, when she had enough money to quit the shop.

Eventually, Percy asked Sally what was always on his mind whenever they went to Montauk, his father. Sally's eyes went misty.

"He was kind," she said, "Tall, handsome, and powerful, but gentle too. You his black hair, you know and his green eyes."

Sally fished out a blue jelly bean out of her candy bag. "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud.

"How old was I," Percy asked, "when he left?"

"He was only with me for one summer, Percy, right at this beach, this cabin." Sally watched the flames as she explained.

"But, he knew me as a baby"

"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave when you were born."

There was a moment of silence.

Sally cleared her throat. "What about you Naruto? What were your parents like?"

On the first week he was this world, he wondered what his parents were like. One day, he received another note describing his parents. Today, he was giving the short version of what he read.

"Well, they say I look like my dad. He never knew who his mother was, so he was raised by his father. He grew up a genius. He was what you call a prodigy. He became a soldier and eventually a war hero. Through this he managed to become a pretty big deal in our village. As for my mother, they say I got her personality. She had a round face and red hair, which always got her teased. She never knew who his father was, so she was raise by her mother. She was mischievous growing up, always pranking people. She was a target for bullies, but she never backed down from them."

"Do you have any pictures of them?" Percy asked.

Naruto just shook his head.

There was a moment of silence again.

Percy broke the silence when he asked, "Are you going to send me away again to another boarding school?"

She pulled a marshmallow from the fire.

"I don't know, honey." Her voice was heavy. "I think…I think we'll have to do something."

"Because you don't want me around?"

Naruto just face palmed internally at the density of his friend. He didn't know why his friend couldn't see that it was hard enough for his mom as it is.

There were tears in Sally's eyes as she took Percy's hand. "Oh Percy, no. I-I have to, honey, for your own good.

"Because I'm not normal," Percy said

"You say as if it's a bad thing, Percy, but you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy was far away enough. I thought you'd finally be safe."

"Safe from what?"

Percy remembered all the weird and scary things that happened when he was a child. Some of which he tried to forget. Naruto remembered the conversation Mr. Brunner and Grover had.

"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," Sally said. "They told me that was a mistake. But there's only one other option, Percy, the place your father wanted to send you. And I just...I just can't stand to do it."

_"They? Who are 'they'?" _He asked himself not wanting to interrupt their conversation.

"My father wanted me to go to a special school?"

"Not a school," she said softly. "A summer camp."

"I'm sorry, Percy," she said, seeing the look in my eyes. "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good."

"For good? But if it's only a summer camp ..."

She turned toward the fire, and Naruto knew from her expression that if Percy had asked her any more questions she would start to cry.

Naruto didn't know what to say in this situation. He felt like intruding in a private conversation, so he just enjoyed the moonlit night which reminded him of those missions that he had with team 7. Percy decided not to ask any more questions seeing that his mother was about to cry. The three, then, called it a night.

That night it was storming hard, and the three woke up with a start.

The storm had woken up Sally when a thunder boomed overhead. Percy was awoken by his weird dream he was having about two animals, a white horse and a golden eagle, were fighting and a monstrous voice fighting in the background. Naruto's eyes shot open up when the memories of the clone that followed Grover flooded his mind. What was notable was the latter parts of the memories particularly the area it had seen. It was the area they drove through on the way here.

Naruto jumped out of bed and opened the door to see Grover was about to knock.

Grover was panting. "Searching all night. What were you thinking?"

Naruto stuttered while scratching the back of his head, "Urm, Percy made me do it"

Sally looked in terror not a Grover, but at the reason of why he'd come.

"Percy," she said, shouting to be heard over the rain. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"

Percy was frozen, looking at Grover.

"O Zeu kai alloi theoi!" he yelled. "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?"

Naruto and Percy were shocked to register that Grover cursed in Ancient Greek, and they understood it perfectly. They were too shocked to wonder what trouble Grover had gotten himself into now.

My mom looked at both boys sternly and talked in a tone she'd never used before: "Percy, Naruto. Tell me now!"

Naruto and Percy stammered while they took turns explaining about the three old ladies with electric blue yarn and Mrs. Dodds. Her face turned deathly pale in the flashes of lightning.

Sally grabbed her purse, tossed Naruto and Percy their rain jacket, and said, "All of you. Get in the car. Now!"

All three ran to the car, but Grover wasn't exactly running, he was trotting, shaking his shaggy hindquarters. It hit Naruto like a bullet, the goat scent of Grover, the way he could run but still limp when he walked because, on the lower half of Grover's body, were cloven hooves.

"_I-it can't be." _He said to himself.

**A/N: Yoooo! Sorry guys still no action. Definitely, the next chapter would have action. **

**For pairings, I think I'd love to place a Naruto and Thalia pairing in this story. Or maybe a Naruto and Silena pairing. For a Naruto and Zoe pairing, I just wondering if developing feelings for Naruto would break her oath or anything. **

**Next chapter, I think I'll start developing the pairing. I'll have to check the reviews on this chapter who gets suggested more. **

**Also I'm thinking of making one character appear at camp. Make a review of what you think about it.**

**That is all thanks for reading! Make a review on what you want to see in the story moving forward. **


	5. Going Ham(burger)

**Chapter 5**

The Camaro drove through dark country roads bounding towards a place unknown to Naruto and Percy. Wind slammed against the Camaro, and rain lashed through the windshield. Sally kept her foot on the gas the whole time, though Naruto was wondering if Sally could see where they were going.

Percy stared at Grover with a dumbfounded look on his face. Naruto spoke up, "No, Percy. You aren't going insane. I can see it too, though I still can't believe It." like he could read Percy's mind.

All Percy could say was, "So, you and my mom know each other?"

Grover kept glancing at the rear-view mirror though there were no cars behind them. "Not exactly," he said. "I mean, we've never met in person, but she knew I was watching you." He continued while pointing at the two boys.

"Watching us?" Naruto asked.

"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," he added hastily. "I am your friend."

"Urm… what are you exactly?"

"That–, "Grover was about to answer when Naruto cut him off.

"He's a satyr."

Both boys looked at the blonde.

"How did you–, "Grover asked.

"My mom told me to read up on Greek Mythology. I thought nothing of it, at first, but now, it's all starting to make sense."

"B-but those are just myths." Percy said.

"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a myth, Percy? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"

"So you admit there was a Mrs. Dodds!"

"Of course"

"Then why–"

"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover said, like that should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."

"Wha–"

Naruto cut Percy off, "This isn't the time guys. I sense something coming. It's big and smells like cow."

Grover had a surprised look on his face as he stared at Naruto through the rear-view mirror. He was about to ask what Naruto meant, but a weird bellowing noise rose up from behind them, closer than before. Whatever it was chasing them was still on their trail.

"Percy," Sally said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."

"Safety from what? Who's after us?"

"Oh, nobody much," Grover said. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."

"Grover!"

"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"

Sally made a hard left. They swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farm houses and wooden hills and a PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRYsigns with white picket fences.

"Wh-where are we going?" Percy asked.

"The summer camp I told you about." Sally's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."

"The place you didn't want me to go."

Naruto made a loud sigh with a hand on his face shaking his head from side to side.

"Please, dear," Sally begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. Both of you are in danger."

"Because some old ladies cut yarn."

"Those weren't old ladies, weren't they? " Naruto said. "Those were the Fates. They appear in front of you when someone is about to die."

"You seem to know an awful lot about this, Naruto." Grover said.

"I did some thinking when we were on the bus on the way to New York. I just connected the dots."

Grover was dumbfounded at what Naruto said.

Sally made a hard right and Naruto and Percy made out the figure she'd swerved to avoid a dark fluttering shape now lost behind them in the storm.

"What was that?" Percy asked.

"We're almost there," Sally said, ignoring Percy's question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."

Outside there was nothing but rain and darkness, the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. There was a blinding flash, a jaw rattling boom and the car exploded.

"Percy! Naruto!" Sally shouted.

"I'm okay…" Percy groaned.

"That could have gone better." Naruto managed.

Actually, the car hadn't exploded; they just swerved into a ditch. The driver's-side door was wedged in the mud. The roof was cut like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.

"_Lightning" _Naruto thought. _"We must have been blasted off of the road."_

"Grover!" Percy shouted.

Grover was slumped over motionless, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. Percy shook him, but he wasn't waking up any time soon.

"Food" Grover groaned.

Naruto chuckled. "Hehe, as much as I find this funny Grover, now is not the time."

"Percy, Naruto," Sally said. "We have to…" Her voice faltered.

In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, they saw a figure lumbering toward them on the shoulder of the road. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.

Percy gulped "Who is–"

"Percy, Naruto," my mother said in a deadly serious tone. "Get out of the car, now!"

Sally threw herself against the driver's-side door. It was jammed shut in the mud. Percy tried his side of the door. It was stuck too. Percy looked up desperately at the hole in the roof. It might've been an exit, but the edges were sizzling and smoking.

"Climb out the passenger's side!" my mother told me. "Naruto, when did you–"

"No time. We have to go, now!" Naruto said as he pulled Sally, Percy and Grover out of the car.

"Boys, do you see that big tree?" Sally said pointing at the direction of the tree."

Another flash of lightning, the boys saw the tree she meant: a huge, White House Christmas tree-sized pine at the crest of the nearest hill.

"That's the property line," Sally said. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."

"Mom, you're coming too." Percy insisted.

Sally's face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean.

"You are coming with us Aunty Sally!" Naruto shouted. "We are not leaving anyone behind!"

"Food!" Grover moaned louder. Naruto was trying hard to control his laughter in the serious situation.

The man with the blanket on his head kept coming toward them, making his grunting, snorting noises. As he got closer, they got a clear view of the thing chasing them. The thing that they thought was a blanket over his head was not a blanket at all. They were horns. The big fuzz mass that they thought was too big for his head really was his head.

"He doesn't want me," Sally told Percy. "He wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line."

"But…"

"No time to argue." Naruto said as he picked up Sally and fireman carried her up the hill. Percy followed her. Sally was surprised when he saw another Naruto carrying Grover at his side.

Both boys glanced back. They saw what the monster really looked like. He was seven feet tall, easy, his arms and legs were like something from the cover of Muscle Man magazine-bulging biceps and triceps and a bunch of other 'ceps, all stuffed like baseballs under vein-webbed skin. He wore no clothes except for bright white underwear. He had coarse brown hair that started at about his belly button and got thicker as it reached his shoulders.

His neck was a mass of muscle and fur leading up to his enormous head, which had a snout as long as an arm, snotty nostrils with a gleaming brass ring, cruel black eyes, and horns-enormous black-and white horns with points you just couldn't get from an electric sharpener.

"That's–"

"Pasiphae's son," Naruto said. "But why is he after Percy?"

"But he's the Min–"

"Don't say his name," Sally warned. "Names have power."

The bull-man hunched over the car, sniffing in the windows.

"Food?" Grover moaned.

"Shhh," Naruto told him as he put a hand over Grover's mouth

"Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?" Percy asked.

"His sight and hearing are terrible," she said. "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."

"**ROOOOAAAARRRR!"**

As if on cue, the bull-man bellowed in rage. He picked up Gabe's Camaro by the torn roof, the chassis creaking and groaning. He raised the car over his head and threw it down the road. It slammed into the wet asphalt and skidded in a shower of sparks for about half a mile before coming to a stop. The gas tank exploded.

"Percy, Naruto," Sally said. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"

"How do you know all this?" Naruto asked.

"I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping both of you near me."

"Keeping us near you? But-"

The bull man picked up their scent. He let out a huge bellow of rage and started tromping up the hill.

The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill was getting steeper and slicker. The bull-man was closing in. Another few seconds and he'd be on top of us.

Percy got an idea and sprinted to the left and turned to face the creature. The Minotaur was bearing down on Percy with his black eyes full of hate.

Percy looked like he wanted to run away for fear of the monster. Nevertheless, he held his ground and, at the last moment, jumped to the side

The bull-man stormed past Percy like a freight train, then bellowed with frustration and turned, but not toward Percy, but this time, the monster charged toward Sally, who was being set down by Naruto.

They had reached the crest of the hill. Down the other side, the boys could see a valley, just as Sally described, and the lights of a farmhouse were glowing yellow through the rain. But that was half a mile away. They would never make it.

The bull-man grunted, pawing the ground. He kept his eyes on Sally, who was now retreating slowly downhill, back toward the road, trying to lead the monster away from the boys.

"Naruto, Percy, run!" she told them. "I can't go any farther. Run!"

Sally was running the opposite direction trying to get the bull's attention away from the boys. Percy stood frozen as the monster charged his mother. Sally tried to sidestep the bull just like what Percy did, but the bull-man seemed to have learned his lesson. She was grabbed by the neck as she tried to get away. He lifted her as she struggled, kicking and pummelling the air.

She caught both boys' eyes, and managed to choke out one word: "Go!"

With an angry roar, the monster closed his fists around Sally's neck, and she dissolved before their eyes, melting into a light, a shimmering golden form, as if she were a holographic projection. A blinding flash and she was simply…gone.

"Mom!"

"Aunt Sally!"

Naruto fumed with anger. He could hear a sinister laughter resonating through his head saying "Yes, use my power!" as red chakra permeated through him and his eyes flickered from the normal blue eyes to red with a vertical slit in the middle, like a fox . He placed Grover down near a tree and charged the beast.

Naruto appeared near his face catching the bull-man off guard. He delivered a drop-kick on his face, but the beast was able to withstand the blow because of his bulk. He went to a flurry of punches and kicks not knowing if he was doing damage or not. The bull, on the other hand, was waving his hands trying to swat Naruto away.

"This is going to be harder than I thought." He mumbled.

Naruto jumped backwards to make some distance. His hands went into a blur making a series of hand signs.

"**WIND STYLE: WIND SCYTHE JUTSU!"**

The Minotaur raised its hands to cover its face and brace itself for the incoming jutsu. The wind hit the bull-man and sliced through it while simultaneously pushing it back. When the monster brought down its hands, it was bleeding but, unfortunately, still alive.

Seeing his mother disintegrate stunned Percy and he couldn't move, but seeing Naruto attack the bull-man managed to get Percy out of his state of fear. He was at a dumbfounded look as he saw Naruto moving so fast, but was more shocked when he saw that every punch and kick Naruto delivered only seemed to get the Bull-man angrier.

Percy took off his rain jacket and waved it in the air. "Hey, stupid! Ground beef!" He shouted.

"**ROOOOAAAARRRR" **The monster charged Percy shaking his meaty fists.

The bull-man charged too fast, his arms out to grab Percy whichever way Percy would try to dodge.

Percy's legs tensed. He knew he couldn't jump sideways, so he did something the bull did not expect. He leaped straight up kicking off the creatures head using it as a springboard, turning in mid-air, landing on the bull-man's neck.

"_Damn, that was awesome" _Naruto thought.

Percy held on to the horns until the moment of impact, which nearly knocked his teeth out. He got a good grip of the horns and pulled at the horn with all his might. Thunder and lightning were still going strong around them.

Meanwhile, Grover was groaning in the grass. Percy wanted to yell at Grover to shut up, but the way the bull-man was wobbling around, if Percy would open his mouth, he would bite his tongue off.

"Food!" Grover moaned louder.

The bull-man was staggering about trying to shake Percy off his head. He could hear Grover's loud moaning and began wobbling over in his direction.

Naruto appeared beside Percy and Naruto locked his hands on one of the horns. Both boys realized what was happening, so they pulled harder in order to change the direction the bull-man was going. The monster tensed trying to pull into the direction it wanted to go.

There was a tug of war against the two sides with the Minotaur flailing wildly like a rodeo bull until there was a loud and audible snap. The boys fell down the back of the beast, and the bull man fell forward into another tree.

Naruto looked at what he had in his hand and grinned.

"Hey Beef Breath!" He taunted the beast. "I got your horn right here!"

The beast turned towards their direction and bellowed in rage. He charged towards the blonde ready grab him wherever he would dodge.

Naruto summoned a shadow and began forming a ball in his hand.

"Percy, get ready!" Naruto shouted as he began to charge

"**GIANT RASENGAN!" **He shouted as he slammed it towards the beast's chest causing it to skid backwards until he hit a tree

Before the jutsu hit him, the bull-man managed to slam his hands towards one of the Narutos which unfortunately was the real one. It sent him flying towards the trees close to Grover.

"Percy! Finish him!" Naruto shouted as he was sent flying.

Percy charged the Minotaur as it hit the tree and drove the horn on its belly.

The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed; clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind, the same way Mrs. Dodds had burst apart.

The monster was gone.

The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. Percy and Naruto smelled like livestock. Percy head hurt so bad but he managed to make his way towards Naruto and Grover. The satyr was still unconscious

"You don't look too good." Percy said.

"Well I've been through worse." Naruto replied trying to get up

"Ow!" he said immediately clutching his chest.

"What's wrong?"

Percy began to walk towards Naruto but he began to feel drowsy and exhausted from the encounter. Percy fell down and collapsed right next to Grover.

Naruto felt the red chakra dissipate from his system, and he too began to feel exhausted. As he was about to pass out he heard the clops of hooves approaching. He managed to make out a familiar bearded old man making his way towards them with a girl with curled golden hair who knelt next to him.

"Chiron, this one's hurt."

That was the last thing he heard when everything went black.

* * *

**A/N: Hey Guys! I feel like I haven't posted a chapter in a long time. I got caught up in some work so I wasn't able to continue writing this chapter. Well, anyway here I am. **

**Thank you for reading and reviewing. I read your suggestions and they're all awesome. I will find a way to write about them as I go on with the story. **

**Thanks again. Bye!**


	6. Camp Half-Blood

**Chapter 6**

_CRASHH_

_Two boys crashed in a foot of a statue. _

_One of the boys was wearing a navy blue, short sleeved shirt with a high collar and an Uchiha crest on the back, white shorts. His skin was dark-grey and his hair was long and dark blue. On his back, there were webbed claw shaped wings. This is Sasuke Uchiha._

_The other boy was wearing an orange and blue jacket with a white swirl tassel on the left side, and a red Uzumaki crest on the back and an orange pair of pants. There was a shroud of translucent red cloak of bubbles of red chakra forming long ears on the head area and three tails on the rear end. His eyes were darkened around them and his pupils were red with a slit pattern on them. His teeth also grew fangs. This is Naruto Uzumaki._

_Naruto was surprised when a huge hand blocked his strike. The huge hand slapped him away flying towards the foot of the other statue right across it._

_Sasuke gritted his teeth, 'I have no time to waste… This body…' Sasuke closed his eyes._

_Naruto checked his left hand. 'I can't feel my left hand. _

"_That power of yours too… Of course there was a risk…" Naruto said._

_Sasuke just smiled. "Do you know?"_

"_This place is called the 'Valley of the End', the country border. This is the perfect setting, isn't it?"_

"…_." _

"_Like I said, the time for talk is over… Yes… That's right. The time to talk is over."_

"…_."_

"_Well, finally it's ending… This battle…"_

_Sasuke made the necessary hand signs __**"CHIDORI!"**_

_Naruto held out his right hand and a ball formed on his hand._

_Both boys charged aiming their respective jutsu at each other. Both jutsu collided and exploded._

_(LINE BREAK)_

_**A FEW MINUTES LATER**_

_A tall, lovely young woman with a well-built body, shoulder length hair and silver eyes was walking through the woods stalking an animal it had been hunting. She eventually made it to an are with a waterfall and two huge statues. She was surprised to see the destruction she saw all around the area. She spotted an orange figure lying on the ground and made her way towards it to check it out._

_When she made her way there, she saw a boy injured boy lying on his back with a pool of blood forming at his side. She was about to leave him to die, since she saw that the figure was a boy, but curiosity took over her. She knelt down to check his pulse. Her eyes went wide when she felt a pulse, but it was weak._

_As she was touching him, she had a vision of the boy's horrible past. She felt the resentment to people who should have accepted and the longing for acceptance he had. Her heart just melted on the spot, and, on a whim, she decided to teleport away with the boy in a bright flash of light._

* * *

A familiar yellow haired boy opens his eyes slowly to see another ceiling he has never seen before. One thing was on his mind with what he had seen. _'Why am I seeing this now?'_

He heard a voice coming from the bed next to him asking, "What was stolen?"

He decided to sit up, "Your guess is as good as mine."

A girl on the bed next to his was startled and almost dropped the bowl of weird pudding-like stuff she was feeding the boy on the adjacent bed who he could make out was Percy.

The girl looked to be at the same age of Percy, maybe a couple of inches taller than him, and a whole lot more athletic looking. She had a deep tan and curly blonde hair and her eyes were startling grey, like storm clouds. Right now, she was wearing an orange shirt with a blue skirt that stopped just before the knees and blue sneakers.

"Don't scare me like that!" she exclaimed as she watched Naruto starting to get-up.

Naruto felt stiff as he was getting up but his chest didn't hurt anymore, so he could only assume that the fox had mended his injuries. He began to stretch to get rid of the kinks in his joints.

"How are you up? You shouldn't be awake until tomorrow at the very least." She asked with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"I have always been a fast healer." Naruto said. "What about him? Will he be okay?"

"Oh… urm… yeah. He will be fine. He just needs rest. He should be up by tomorrow." Annabeth replied.

"That's good." Naruto said. "Well anyway, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Nice to meet you." He said offering a hand for a handshake with a his signature smile.

Annabeth looked at him slightly as if she was studying him or finding a way to take him down. She smiled and a little blush found its way onto her cheeks. She finally took her hand shook it with the smile never leaving her face. "I'm Annabeth Chase. Nice too meet you too."

"So… Urm… Where am I?" Naruto asked.

"You're at Camp Half-blood. You probably have a lot of questions."

"Come on I'll take you to Chiron and Mr. D" She said leading Naruto out of the room.

On the way out, Naruto saw Greek lettering all over the walls which he somehow knew how to read.

"That was the medical room. You were brought in after you caused quite a bit of a ruckus last night." Annabeth explained.

"Yeah… Sorry about that. We wouldn't have made all that noise if not for Pasiphae's son trying to turn us into a shish kebab last night." He apologized while scratching the back of his head.

"You know your Greek History." She said looking slightly impressed.

"My mom told me to brush up on Greek Mythology when I first arrived in New York."

"That's a smart thing to do. What's your mother like?" Annabeth said.

Naruto shrugged, "Dunno, I haven't met her yet."

She wanted to ask another question, but the somber look on his face made her decide not to. She found herself staring a bit longer at him to which Naruto noticed.

"Is there something on my face?" He asked.

Annabeth immediately looked away. "N-n-nothing"

Naruto was awestruck with what he saw all around him.

The valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture-an open-air pavilion, an amphitheatre, a circular arena-except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like what Annabeth was wearing were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail; some of their horses even had wings.

They made their way to the farmhouse that Naruto saw last night up on the crest of the hills. Down at the end of the porch, two men were sitting across each other playing some kind of card game.

Grover noticed them approaching and trotted over towards them.

"Naruto!" He shouted and gave Naruto a big hug.

"Hey Annabeth!" He gave her a hug too.

"Hey Grover!" Both blondes said at the same time.

"It's good to see you awake after what happened." Naruto said

"Same here! Here, they found you clutching this when they found you." He said handing a shoe box he was holding.

"Thanks Grover!"

Naruto looked inside and saw the Minotaur horn he broke off the head of the bull-man the night before. Annabeth was peering in as well curious to see what it was.

"Hmmm, spoils of the battle…" Naruto mumbled.

He then looked at Grover and smiled, "Gee, Thanks!"

"Come on Chiron would want to see you!" Grover said still excited.

When they were at the porch, Naruto immediately recognized one of them to be a familiar old man in a wheel chair with thinning brown hair and a scraggly beard wearing a tweed jacket.

"Mr. Brunner?" Naruto said with an inquisitive look on his face.

"Naruto, my boy, it's good to see you are up." Mr. Brunner greeted. "I was not expecting you until tomorrow."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." He said scratching the back of his head.

"I see." Mr. Brunner responded. "How about you join us? We can play Pinochle while we talk."

Mr. Brunner motioned Naruto to sit on a chair with them in front of the table where they were playing cards.

"Thank you for bringing him here Annabeth. You can run along now." Mr. Brunner said to Annabeth.

Annabeth took one last look at Naruto, jumped off the porch, and ran off.

"Well for starters, here I am called–"

"Chiron? Grover and Annabeth mentioned you while we were talking. You mean you are the same one from the myths, the centaur who trained famous heroes like Hercules, Achilles and Jason?"

"The very same," Chiron replied. "And this here is Mr. D, our camp director."

He was pointing at the other guy sitting on the table with them. The man was small but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-age in a trailer park. He was wearing a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he looked like he could be one of Tsunade's drinking buddies. This is Dionysus, known here at Camp as Mr. D.

Mr. D had an uninterested look on his face, "Yes yes, well welcome to camp, I guess."

"I apologize for keeping everything from you, my boy." Chiron apologized. "It's just that knowing too much would attract more monsters, placing you in more danger than you already were." Chiron apologized.

"It's okay Chiron. It's just that I just wish I could have saved Aunt Sally." Naruto said with sad eyes.

Chiron put a hand on Naruto's shoulders and comforted the blonde.

"Okay, so now here's the hard part." Chiron said.

"Hmmm, if I may make a guess, the Greek gods from the myths are real and exist to this day." Naruto said.

Mr. D was beginning to take interest in the blonde.

"My my, you seem to have an idea on what I am getting at, my boy." Chiron said

"I was told brush up on Greek Mythology. Plus, I was attacked twice by things we all thought were myths at first. This couldn't have to be a coincidence."

"I see." Chiron nodded. "Well, as you have said, the gods are very much alive. Over the years, they moved from country to country following Western Civilization. As you have learned in Latin class, the gods come down to earth and fall in love with mortals and, sometime, if not most of the time, this love would produce a half human, half god offspring, a–"

"A demigod," Naruto nodded.

"Yes and where we are now is Camp Half-Blood. This camp is where demi-gods train and hone their skills, meet other demigods and form close friendships. For many, Camp Half-Blood is a place to call home because their scents may sometime attract monsters which makes living in the mortal world dangerous."

"Hmmm, I see. That makes sense."

"You seem to be taking this rather well, my boy."

"Well, after everything that happened, I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, I woke up in in this world, which I did not recognize, and I thought that would be the weirdest thing I will see in my lifetime."

Mr. D was being more intrigued with the conversation.

"In this world? What do you mean?" Mr. Brunner asked curious at Naruto's last statement.

"Since you're being straight forward with me, I should be honest with you." Naruto said. "I am from another world where the people use energy, known as chakra, to manipulate the elements and perform amazing feats."

Chiron and Grover looked at Naruto speechless at what the blonde said. Only Mr. D was able to speak.

"Do you mean you are from the Elemental Nations?"

Naruto nodded.

"This isn't true. You must be lying." Mr. D said.

Naruto just shook his head. He held out his hand and formed a Rasengan.

Grover gasped at the sight.

"Yep, that is chakra all right." Mr. D said now amused. "I must say; this is a first. We have never had anybody from the Elemental Nations here before. But that doesn't explain why you are able to enter since you said you were 'taken in'. If you were a regular mortal, you wouldn't be able to enter the borders, much less see this area."

Naruto nodded. "I woke up in an apartment with a note from someone who said she is taking me as her own."

"That makes sense. Only the gods are capable of traversing different worlds."

"Well, what's important is that you are safe here in camp." Chiron added.

"Wait! Hold on! What are the Elemental Nations? What is chakra? And what is that blue thing Naruto has made?"

"Well Grover…"

Naruto was about to explain to Grover everything, when Mr. D mumbled, "I am a going to need a drink for this." Then, with a wave of a hand, he summoned a glass of wine.

Thunder boomed.

"Mr. D, your restrictions." Chiron reminded while he was looking at his cards.

Mr. D looked at the wine and feigned surprise. "Oh Dear me. Old Habits! Sorry!"

Thunder boomed again.

He waved his hand again and the glass of wine changed into a fresh can of Diet Coke. He sighed unhappily, popped open the top of the soda, and went back to the card game.

"Wait! Wine! Y-you must be Dionysus, god of wine." Naruto exclaimed after seeing what Mr. D did

"That is correct. Nice to see not demigods who come here are complete idiots."

"Uhh thanks, I guess. I'm sorry, Lord Dionysus. I should have realized sooner." Naruto apologized with a slight bow.

"I suppose that is fine, boy. I wouldn't expect anyone to recognize me with this look I have chosen to look as while I am here." Mr. said his respect for the blonde climbing a little bit.

Naruto thanked Mr. D and turned back to Grover.

"Sorry about that Grover. Anyways…"

Naruto went on to explain everything about the Elemental Nations and Chakra to Grover the way it was explained to him when he was studying in the Academy.

By the end of it, Grover was left dumbfounded and completely gobsmacked at the new information given to him.

"To think a world like that existed. Who knew." He said slumping back.

Naruto put a hand on Grover and said, "That is exactly what I felt when I came into this world.

Grover's nose twitched when he smelled the familiar smell he always smelled when he was with him in Yancy Academy.

He decided to ask, "You know… I have always wondered why you smell like a fox."

Naruto was taken aback by the question. His expression darkened. "Uhm, Grover…"

"It's okay Naruto. You can trust him." Chiron put a hand on Naruto.

"Uhm, I think all of you should hear this." Naruto took a deep breath and began to explain.

"There are these huge masses of chakra who have taken a living form. These creatures are as tall as a New York Skyscraper. There are nine of these massive creatures, each differentiated by their number of tails. The Nations in my world have found the way to seal them inside humans to harness their powers. They are called the Jinchūriki"

"One of them is sealed inside of me." Naruto continued clutching his stomach. "The Nine-Tailed fox."

This gained the attention of the wine god who almost choked on his Diet Coke. "You mean you are the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox?"

Mr. D stood up and made his way to Naruto.

"Let me see the seal."

Naruto lifted his shirt and channelled chakra through his body. After a few seconds, the seal appeared on his stomach. Mr. D kneeled over and examined the seal.

"I must say, this is quite a seal. In my time going over there to taste some of the wine in your world, I happened to come across a scroll of the sealing arts left by a random drunk mortal. I tried to study it. I may not be seal master, myself, but I can spot a good seal when I see one. Whoever made this seal was a genius. It is something my sister, Athena, would be jealous over."

Naruto nodded.

"This could be troublesome. I should keep an eye on you, since we have never had a shinobi at camp, much less a Jinchūriki. I doubt you will have some episodes since the seal is doing its job at keeping the beast at bay. But we can never be too careful; we don't need a giant fox terrorizing the place."

Naruto nodded in understanding while Mr. D explained to Chiron what a Jinchūriki was.

Naruto turned to his friend.

He raised the box beside him and said, "I got to thank you again for this."

"It's the least I can do, since you and Percy saved me." Grover said his expression turned downtrodden. "I have protected you better…all of you."

Chiron patted Grover on the back and said, "Grover, you did a good job. That's two more that you have brought to safety."

"It should have been five." He whispered to himself.

"Grover, why don't you take Naruto on a tour of camp? I'm sure he is eager to see what is around."

"Sure Chiron." He said getting up and motioned Naruto to follow.

"I'll see you guys later." Naruto said.

When both boys left, Naruto left his cards and the paper where he tallied the points. Mr. D and Chiron became wide eyed when they saw Naruto's score was way higher than theirs.

* * *

**ON THE TOUR AROUND CAMP**

"That building where we were just now is the big house. It's basically the HQ of camp and where Chiron and Mr D. hang out to play Pinochle." Grover explained.

Naruto nodded as he looked around. They passed by several campers carrying either bows and arrows, swords or other assorted weapons. Others had maps or books while others carried tools. Several campers nudged each other when they saw Naruto. Another whispered to his companion, "That's him, one of the two from last night."

Most of the campers he saw were older than the blonde. There were satyrs bigger than Grover, but all were wearing CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their goat halves.

There were those staring at him like how Annabeth did. Others were trying to figure Naruto out. Some of them, specifically the girls, were staring at him with stars in their eyes.

They walked through the strawberry fields where there were kids were picking bushels of strawberries while a satyr was playing a tune on his reed pipes. Naruto took a whiff of the area and found that he was sighing happily. The place smelled heavenly. It smelled of freshly cut grass and smell of strawberries permeated through the air.

Grover explained that the children of Demeter took up the task of keeping the strawberry fields in good condition along with the satyrs playing magical songs to help them grow. He also added that the strawberries helped pay the funds of the camp. It may have been a magical camp for demigods, but it still needed money from the mortal world.

"So, Grover, how were you assigned to find me and Percy?" Naruto asked striking a conversation with his satyr friend.

"I wasn't exactly assigned to find you." Grover replied. "Satyrs are sent out to the mortal world to find demigods and bring them back to camp safely. Yancy Academy was my second chance."

"Second chance? You mean you did this before?" he said getting a solemn look from Grover.

"Yeah, a couple of years ago, but I rather not talk about it. Let's just say something went wrong along the way."

Grover was sad for a moment, but he shook it off and continued, "Anyways, I was sent to Yancy Academy to look for half-bloods, then it just so happened that you and Percy were studying there. Originally, I thought that it was just Percy, and then I discovered you. That's when I called Chiron and he came to Yancy as well."

"Why was something the matter?"

Grover shook his head, "No, not necessarily. It's just that you and Percy were giving off a strong scent, stronger than other demigods, though, yours maybe because you're a shinobi and a jinchūriki. Blaha! Man, that's weird; I still can't believe that a world like that exists. You have to tell me more sometimes."

"Sure man." Naruto said with a smile. "And Grover, I would appreciate that you wouldn't tell anyone about the fox part. I just think people would take it the wrong way and…"

"I don't blame you," Grover said. "From what Mr. D had said, most people would be cautious. But you and Percy saved me, and I spent a lot of time with you to know that you can be trusted."

"Thanks man." Naruto replied.

After the strawberry fields, they went past the archery range where a large group of children of varying ages were firing arrows at targets. They seemed pretty good since most were hitting just around the centre.

Grover showed Naruto the Pegasus stables, the forges, the circular arena, the archery field, the canoeing lake, the open air pavilion where the campers eat at their assigned tables and the amphitheatre where the campers have a campfire, tell stories, and sings songs.

Naruto loved all of them, especially the Pegasus stables where he saw a beautiful girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. They made eye contact and smiled at each other. Naruto was about to go follow her, but Grover pulled him saying that there was a lot more to see.

Naruto asked Grover about the woods around camp. Grover said that it was stocked with monsters that the campers can go and hunt. Naruto said it might be fun and that it was a good thing he brought his bag of kunai and shuriken. Grover shook his head and said that monsters could only be killed with Celestial Bronze, much to the disappointment of the blonde. Grover made him feel better by saying that they can visit the forges

Finally, they made their way to the cabins. There were twelve of them nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row of either side. Not a single cabin had the same design, except for a brass number placed above the door.

Cabin one and two were the only ones with almost the same design. They looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin One was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them. Cabin Two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.

Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops.

In the centre of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smouldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick. She had brown hair with a small bandana covering her hair and wore a brown dress that went down to her knees. She turned to Naruto and gave him a smile. She then walked into the flames and disappeared.

Grover explained that each cabin represents one of the twelve Olympians and houses the demigod children of that said god.

Naruto noticed that some cabins were empty and asked, "Why are there cabins that are empty?"

"Well, Cabin Two is empty because Hera is the goddess of marriage so she doesn't have affairs, so no demigod children. The cabin's just ordinary. Cabin One and Three are empty because the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, had a pact two have no more demigod children due to some bad past events. Cabin Eight is empty because Artemis took an oath, along with Athena and Hestia, to remain a virgin so no demigod children. Her cabin's mostly honorary."

"Mostly honorary?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Grover nodded. "From time to time, the Hunters of Artemis, her handmaidens, sometimes visit camp. When they're here, they sleep there."

Naruto stared at Cabin Eight and felt like something was telling him to go there, but he ignored it.

"What about children of the other gods?"

"They just stay at Cabin Eleven."

Naruto frowned, "Won't that make the Cabin overflow with campers."

"Yeah," Grover nodded, "But Hermes is the god of travellers, so they accept anyone to stay there, even the unclaimed."

As they were talking, a girl who had been staring at them from the Cabin with barbed wires on the roof and a stuffed boar on the doorway approached them with two other bulky boys.

"Hey! Blondie!"

* * *

**A/N: Hey Guys. Here's chapter 6! I got carried away writing this chapter so it's longer than the other chapters. I hope you like it.**


	7. Fights and Fire

**Chapter 7**

"Hey! Blondie!"

A buff girl wearing an XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket called out to Naruto. This girl has the height of a basketball player and the muscular body of a rugby player. By the looks of it, she seems to be the most physically adept female fighter at camp. She has dark "pig eyes" and pale, stringy brown hair. This is Clarisse La Rue, head counsellor of the Ares Cabin.

"Or should I say dead meat." She said earning chuckles from the two goons that were with her.

All activity around them seemed to stop as the other campers around them stopped to watch the action about to unfold. Some of them looked at Naruto with a sorry look knowing that the blonde would be beaten up on his first day at Camp. The others whispered to one another about how the blonde isn't going to like what's going to happen."

"Uh oh"

"–he's so doomed."

"Here we go again."

Naruto turned to Clarisse and her goons with an uninterested look on his face. "Oh hey, did you say something?"

The trio had a shocked look on their faces at what the blonde said. Clarisse's shock immediately turned to anger; she immediately ordered her goons to charge the blonde.

One of the goons sent a punch aimed at the blonde which sent him flying. As soon as the punch connected, he felt a sharp pain on his hand. He immediately pulled his hand back and nursed it with his other hand. He then felt something cold and sharp on his neck area.

"Don't move." Naruto said causing the goon to freeze up.

"Grover you better stay back." Naruto said to his friend.

"B-but…" Grover tried to protest but decided to step back.

Everyone was surprised when they saw Naruto already behind his attacker holding a kunai on his neck. Clarisse and the other goon had their mouths wide open at what they saw. They didn't even see the blonde move. They looked over to where they thought the blonde flew to, only to see a log lying in place.

Clarisse pushed the other goon towards Naruto. Immediately, Goon #2 aimed a punch at the blonde whose back was turned to him.

Naruto, sensing the incoming punch, cocked his head sideways and pulled the kunai back, making the punch miss and head straight to the first goon. Goon #1 was sent forward a couple of feet with his face on the ground.

Naruto turned to face Goon #2 and taunted him with hands doing the 'come' gesture.

Goon #2 immediately got enraged and charged Naruto with a punch aimed at his face. The blonde caught the punch in his hand and grabbed Goon #2's arm. As Goon #1 was beginning to get up right behind him, he threw Goon #2 towards Goon #1 which knocked both of them back to the ground.

Clarisse, who was watching, growled at her two goons, "Incompetent, little – "

"Is that it?" Naruto asked with a bored tone. "If not, you better rap it I still got a tour to go back to."

With Naruto's back turned to her, she charged.

Naruto sidestepped and swiped at her calves with his leg making Clarisse go off balance. Naruto put an arm on her chest slammed her on the ground.

He stared at the girl dead in the eye.

"Nice try girl. If all three of you charged me, you may have had a chance."

He offered a hand to Clarisse and helped her stand up.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki by the way."

She was speechless. All she could was her name. "Uhh Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares."

She took his hand and stood up. She decided not to say anything else, ran to her goons, shook them awake, and walked away. The event left her flustered.

Everyone watching was speechless and awestruck at how Naruto handled the situation.

Grover walked towards his friend with stars in her eyes and said, "Naruto, t-that was–"

Naruto just gave a big grin at his friend.

"So, where were we Grover?" Naruto said changing the subject.

"Uhm, the cabins…" Grover said.

"Yeah, the cabins. So, where do I sleep?"

"You stay at Cabin Eleven until you are determined." Grover answered. "Come on I'll introduce you to them."

* * *

**AT CABIN ELEVEN**

They made it to a Cabin Eleven which, out of all the cabins, looked like a regular old summer camp cabin. The cabin's threshold was worn down and the brown paint was peeling. Over the doorway, was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it, a caduceus.

They stood at the doorway, and Naruto took a look inside. Naruto saw that the cabin was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were all over the floor, like a gym where the Red Cross has set up an evacuation centre.

"Naruto, meet Cabin Eleven." Grover introduced Naruto to his new cabin mates.

"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.

"Undetermined," Grover answered.

Everybody groaned.

A guy a little older than the others came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Naruto."

This guys who spoke was older than all the others, about nineteen years old. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cut-offs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different coloured beads. There was a thick white scar that ran just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash. This is Luke Castellan.

"This is Luke." Grover said. "He's your counsellor for now."

"For now?" Naruto asked.

Luke made his way to the doorway to speak with their newcomer.

"Hey Grover, what's up?" He greeted Grover and gave him a high five.

After that, he turned to Naruto and explained, "You're undetermined, so they don't know what cabin to put you in. That's why you're here for the meantime. Since Hermes, our patron, is the god of travellers, Cabin Eleven would naturally take all newcomers and visitors in.

At the start of the explanation, Naruto noticed that there was resentment and bitterness in voice for a small while which quickly disappeared. Naruto decided to keep it to himself.

"Urm, where do I sleep?" Naruto inquired.

"You can have that spot on the floor there." Luke answered.

Naruto was about to move to his tiny spot on the floor, but Grover called out.

"Hey Naruto, I gotta run. I'll see you at dinner." Grover waved goodbye to Naruto, gave another high five to Luke and ran off."

"Bye Grover!" Both boys said goodbye back as Grover was running off.

Naruto turned to Luke and said, "So urm, I need a shower, but my bag got lost in the mud when our car exploded."

"Hmmm, I'll see what I can do." Luke replied. "I'll go by the camp store. Why don't you come inside for a while?"

Naruto went inside towards the spot Luke pointed to a while back, while Luke made his way to the camp store.

As Naruto was walking to his spot, everyone in the cabin was staring at him, some maybe sizing him up. Naruto looked at their faces. Some were sullen and suspicious, others were grinning stupidly, and some were eyeing him like waiting for the chance to pick his pockets.

Naruto got to his spot and took a seat. He noticed his new cabin mates were still staring at him, so he said, "Guys, I appreciate the attention, but you may carry on now."

When the others heard that, the cabin turned chaotic again. Some were talking, while the others were horsing around. Two of the campers in the cabin, who Naruto assumed were twins because they looked alike, were pranking some of their unfortunate cabin mates.

Naruto sat on his spot letting out a loud sigh.

* * *

**A FEW MINUTES LATER**

"Hey Naruto, I'm back."

Luke greeted to Naruto when he got back. Luke found the blonde staring at the ceiling and, occasionally at their cabin mates.

"Oh, hey Luke!" Naruto greeted back.

"I got you some spare clothes and a sleeping bag." The older boy said.

"Thanks Luke!"

"No problem."

Naruto made his way to the bathrooms, and took a shower.

As he was under the flowing water of the shower head, he started to think. With him alone in the showers, he started to show the emotions he was keeping bottled up. He felt regret for being too slow to save his Aunt Sally. He felt so angry with himself because he could have kept an eye on her better.

He punched the wall right next to him and said, "Dammit!"

Then, he remembered his team mate Sasuke. He remembered his hate for his older brother, Itachi. He remembered how consumed he was in hatred that he was willing to go to Orochimaru in search for power.

At that moment, he resigned himself to go a different path as his former team mate. He told himself that he found a new home and he should get stronger in order to protect his new home. He also told himself that if the time comes, he will save his Aunt Sally whatever it takes.

When he was done showering, he went to explore the camp by himself. He looked for places to train. He also tried the climbing wall. He got up quickly, but another camper trying to climb the wall with him almost got singed with lava for being too slow to climb the wall. Fortunately, Naruto was able to pull him out of the way just in time.

He also looked for great places to hang out during his down times. He made it to a hill overlooking camp. He climbed a nearby tree, and looked out at camp.

"Man, I'll never get over this view." He said to himself.

He sat there for the rest of the afternoon admiring the exhilarating view of camp. He loved this place more and more. He rested on the trunk of the tree, watched the other campers doing their activities.

Naruto heard a conch horn blow in the distance. He noticed that the campers were stopping their activities. He shrugged it off and lay back down. A few minutes later, familiar voice called out to him.

"There you are, my boy."

Naruto looked down and saw Chiron in his centaur form calling out to him at the foot of the tree.

"It's time for dinner." Chiron called out.

"Sure Chiron." Naruto replied and jumped down from the tree.

"The conch horn signals meal time. When you hear it, you must head out to the dining pavilion."

"Sorry Chiron. I wasn't told about it."

"That's okay, my boy. Come, I'll take you to dinner."

Naruto was about walk when Chiron picked him up, placed him on his back, and galloped towards the open air dining pavilion.

* * *

**DINING PAVILION**

Chiron dropped Naruto off at the Dining Pavillion. Naruto was still shocked when he got off of Chiron's back.

"That was definitely an experience." Naruto said shaking the shock off of him.

Chiron placed a hand on Naruto's shoulders and said, "Before we go in Naruto, I should tell you that you shouldn't hold the burden you are carrying to yourself. Mr. D has informed me of the hardships a Jinchūriki faces. You should know that you won't have to face those hardships here. Do not feel that you have to hide yourself from us, we're all family here. They will be wary of you, at first, but they will learn to accept you. Everyone here has felt left out and considered an outcast at some point in their lives, so if you decide to tell them, they will understand you and accept you for who you are."

"Thanks Chiron." Naruto said wiping a tear from his eyes. "You don't know how much I appreciate that."

"When Mr. D introduces you to everyone later, he will let them know you are from the Elemental Nation, but he will leave it to you to tell them about your tenant when you are ready."

Naruto nodded and the two walked in.

Inside the pavilion, Naruto saw that there were torches blazing around marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier. Each cabin had its own table, covered with white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were unoccupied, but one table was overcrowded with campers. Naruto figured it was Cabin Eleven since he saw Luke and the twins he saw in the cabin sitting there. Naruto also spotted Annabeth at a table with other campers who had similar features to her.

The two made their way to the head table where Mr. D was sitting. As they were walking, there were a few whispers from the crowd.

"Hey! That's him, one of the two from last night."

"Did you hear about what he did to Clarisse a while back?"

"The whisker marks on his face are so cute."

"He's so hot."

Naruto shrugged off the comments, except for the last comment which caused him to get a tingling sensation up his spine. Back in the Elemental Nations, he had a fair share of these so called fan girls, which he had to hide from all the time.

Chiron pointed at the overcrowded table and told Naruto to join his cabin mates.

Luke saw Naruto and greeted him. "Hey Naruto. Where have you been? We've been looking for you."

"Hehe, sorry about that. I went exploring for a while." Naruto said while scratching the back of his head.

"Come on have a seat." Luke offered. "Make room guys."

The campers shifted to give way for Naruto and the blonde sat beside Luke.

A few moments later, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor, and everybody fell silent. He raised his glass and shouted, "TO THE GODS!"

Everyone else raised their glass and shouted as well, "TO THE GODS!"

Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food. There were grapes, apples, cheese, fresh bread, and barbecue. Naruto noticed that everyone else's cups were filled with whatever drink he could think of. Luke explained to him that the cups were enchanted and would fill up with whatever drink they desired.

"Urm, Orange Juice."

The cup filled with an orange liquid. The blonde gave it a taste and grinned happily at the taste.

"Perfect." He said.

Luke handed Naruto a huge slab of ribs, much to the appeal of the latter. He loaded his plate with everything he could see.

He was about to devour the contents of his plate when he saw that everybody else was standing up carrying their plates to the fire in the centre pavilion. This prompted Naruto to do the same.

When they made it to the fire, Naruto saw that the other campers scraped a portion of their food into the fire and said a few words. He saw that they were scraping in the juiciest slice of beef, the ripest strawberry, and the warmest, most buttery roll.

When it was Luke's turn, he took a cluster of fat red grapes, tossed it to the fire, and bowed. "Hermes," he said.

It was Naruto's turn.

The blonde took about a quarter of his ribs, the meatiest portion, and scraped it to the fire.

"This is for you, mom, wherever you are."

Naruto took a whiff of the smoke before getting back to his table. He was surprised that the smell was a lovely mix of hot chocolate, hamburgers, wildflowers, and other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, yet it smelled awesome all the same.

He got back to the table with his cabin mates and devoured the food that was on his plate. He suddenly remembered how much he missed ramen. The blonde caught one of the nymphs and asked if he could have some ramen. To his delight, the nymph gave him a bowl of ramen that resembled one of those videos he had seen on the internet. He tasted and concluded that it was tasty but was not as delicious as the ones he had at Ichiraku.

While eating, he got to talk to the resident prankers of the camp; the two who he thought were twins. He told them of the pranks he did when he was younger, the times he had to prank in order to get the villagers to notice him. When he got to the part where he painted the Hokage Stone Faces, the twins practically worshipped him and called him King of Pranks. He told them that, these days, he wasn't pranking anyone anymore unless there was a good reason much to the dismay of the twins.

After dinner Mr. D, from the head table, stood up and cleared his throat to get the attention of the other campers. "As you know, we have two new arrivals last night. One of them is joining us tonight. I'm sure you all have heard rumours that both of them have defeated the Minotaur last night. That is indeed very much true."

Many of the campers began to whisper amongst themselves as if not believing what Mr. D had told them. Mr. D snapped his fingers and the shoebox the blonde left at the Hermes cabin appeared in front of Naruto. Naruto opened it and took out the contents revealing the Minotaur horn. Many marvelled at him, except for the campers of the Ares Cabin who looked at him with a tinge of jealousy.

Mr. D began to speak again. "The one with us tonight is Naruto Uzumaki."

The campers began to whisper again wondering if that was really his real name since Mr. D has a habit of mispronouncing names. Chiron cleared his throat and clarified that that was his actual name.

"Anyway, Mr Uzumaki is not like any other demiod." Mr. D said causing the campers to glance at the blonde. "He is not from around here."

"Unbeknownst to us all, there is a parallel world that exists in a different dimension that exists separately from our own. This separate dimension contains another world with a complete history of about a thousand years or so. Here, the people, called shinobi or ninja in our tongue, are able to use energy, known as chakra, to bend the elements and perform amazing feats. This world is known as the Elemental Nations."

"Naruto is the first demigod to come from the Elemental Nations. Therefore, please welcome him with open arms." Mr. D said dryly.

Everyone was speechless; they didn't know what to say. Everyone just stared at Naruto, except for one Annabeth Chase who was staring at Naruto like Christmas came early.

Luke managed to stutter out a question. "N-naruto, is that true?"

Naruto nodded.

"Do you think you could show us a shinobi trick?" Luke asked.

Naruto stood up and made his way to one of the stone pillars. He made a half ram seal and started to stroll up the stone pillar as if he was walking on the ground.

"Woah!" Everyone said in unison.

"I wonder what else he can do." Someone asked in the crowd.

"Very good question." Naruto said aloud.

He dropped down the pillar and, with another half ram seal, shouted "**TRANSFORM!" **

In a puff of smoke, he appeared as Mr. D. Everyone was looking back and forth at the real Mr. D and the copy comparing the two. It was an exact perfect copy of Mr. D. Even the wine god was impressed with the copy of himself.

Naruto cancelled the jutsu only for the campers swarm him asking him more about his world, how he came into this world, and what other cool trick he could do. Naruto even swore he heard someone ask him if he has a girlfriend.

Luckily for him, Chiron pounded his hoof on the floor again to get the campers' attention. There was a collective groan from the group.

"That is enough introductions for one night. It's time for us to move to the amphitheatre for our campfire."

* * *

**AMPHITHEATRE**

After the events of dinner, the campers made their way to the amphitheatre where Apollo Cabin led the sing along. There were also s'mores that were roasted over a campfire.

In the middle of the singing, Naruto sense a presence beside him. He looked over to see who it was and saw Annabeth with eyes still in her eyes holding a pen and a notebook.

"I take it you want to know about where I'm from?" Naruto asked casing Annabeth to nod her head vigorously.

"Well, alright then…" The older blonde said. "Where do I start?"

He started telling Annabeth about the Five Great Nations named after an element with a distinct landscape and environment and that there were one hidden village located in each nation. He explained that each Nation was ruled by a Feudal Lord and a Hidden Village is led by a Kage, someone who is considered the strongest shinobi in the village. He also added that there were different smaller nations which may or may not have a hidden village.

He continued by telling her about the shinobi and kunoichi who serve as the military forces of each village. He told her that, at the age of eight, children start their training at the Ninja Academy located in each village. He explained that Academy Students train for four years, and, when they graduate, they become genin. Annabeth asked him what a genin was, which made Naruto explain the ninja ranks and the jobs they do.

He then explained that shinobi and kunoichi train to harness their chakra in order to perform jutsu and control the elements and place people under illusions. He also told her that chakra can be used to perform amazing feats, like the wall climbing technique he did earlier, and increase the strength of attacks in hand to hand combat. Annabeth asked how the chakra could do the latter, but Naruto told her that she would show her sometime. He explained that, unfortunately, there were those who were not able to wield chakra. To compensate, they master taijutsu or hand to hand combat and increase their speed and strength to inhuman levels.

He ended by telling Annabeth about his former home, the Leaf Village. He told her of the leader of the village, and currently it was led by Lady Tsunade, earning a 'wow' from Annabeth. She was surprised that a woman was hailed as the strongest in the village and that she was leading the village. Finally, Naruto told Annabeth about the landscape in and around the Leaf Village. He told her about his favourite spots in the village. He told her about the Hokage Monument that was like Mount Rushmore in the United States, the training field where they fought Kakashi for the bell test, the Library and book store where he spent most of his childhood reading, the Ramen Stand where he spent the rest of his childhood if he wasn't reading books and other spots he liked to hang out in.

Annabeth kept scribbling on her notebook jotting down the things that Naruto. At the end, she took a deep breath and exclaimed, "This is amazing, a whole different civilization with so much to learn about it!"

"I take it you love to learn?" Naruto said to which Annabeth nodded her head rapidly.

"Oh, absolutely! As a child of Athena, I am expected to love learning, most especially, reading."

"Me too! When I first came to this world, I literally buried myself into books trying to learn everything I can about this world. Right now, I am just trying to find something good to read."

Annabeth's eyes lit up at what Naruto said.

"Hmmm... you're like me. Since you're unclaimed, you could be a child of Athena." Annabeth guessed but, deep inside, she kind of felt like she didn't want it to be the case.

Naruto just shrugged.

"How long have you been at camp?" Naruto asked.

"Five summers." She replied showing her necklace. "I basically grew up here." Annabeth replied.

"Hmmm… Do we stay at camp all our lives?"

"Well, that depends. There are those whose scent isn't that strong enough to attract monsters. They get some training over the summer, and go home to their families. Those who don't have families or whose scent too strong that they attract too much of the wrong attention stay at camp all year round."

Naruto fell silent and looked over in the distance.

"I'm sorry about your Aunt Sally." Annabeth said.

"It's alright. I'm trying to tell myself it wasn't my fault, but I can't help but blame myself."

Annabeth just put a hand on Naruto's shoulder for comfort.

At that moment, the conch horn blew again signalling that it was time to go back to their respective cabins.

"Uhh I guess I'll see you around." Annabeth said.

"Yeah, I'll see you around. Good Night!" Naruto said, and then he tapped Annabeth on the forehead causing the latter to blush slightly.

"Uhh, Good Night!"

Everyone filed in with their respective cabins and made their way to their cabins.

* * *

**CABIN ELEVEN**

Everyone was getting ready for bed. Naruto was tired from the day's activities. He was about to lie down when Luke tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey Naruto!" Luke said getting the blonde's attention. "I got something for you."

Luke gave him a pair of Camp Half-Blood T-shirts and a bare leather necklace.

"Since you're part of camp now, you're required to wear that necklace." Luke said. "We all have that necklace. At the end of each summer, you get a bead that contains a picture of what the head counsellors have agreed was the biggest event of that summer." He explained showing the blonde his necklace.

"Thanks Luke!"

"No problem."

"Hmmm Five Beads, so five summers, right?" Naruto asked. "I noticed Annabeth had five beads too."

"Yeah, that's right. We basically came to camp together." Luke said.

Naruto caught a little resentment and anger in his voice when he said that, so Naruto decided to stop asking anymore questions.

"You better get some sleep. It was a long day." Luke told the blonde.

"Yeah, I'm feeling tired already." Naruto replied to which Luke nodded.

Luke walked across to the other side of the room and announced to the whole cabin that it was lights out. Naruto lay down on his sleeping bag and immediately fell asleep exhausted from the day's activities.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys! Here's chapter 7. I hope you like it.**

**Don't forget to read and review. I might get ideas for story lines in the reviews.**

**Anyway, I kinda got an idea to pair Reyna with Naruto, but the problem is she only appears farther down the story. Oh well hahaha. Till the next time I post**

**GamerX568: I'm pretty sure I made Chiron say "This is Mr. D" and the one where I said This is Dionysus, didn't have any quotation marks.**

**DarkShadowRaven: That's a great idea. I didn't even think about that when thinking of the story. Thanks :)**


	8. Life at Camp

**Chapter 8**

It was just before sunrise. It was Naruto's usual time to wake up, ever since Kakashi had been his Jonin instructor. He looked around to his roommates and saw that they were still fast asleep. As quietly as a thief in the night, he got up, made his bed, and went to the showers to wash up.

By the time he was done in the bathrooms, the sun was slowly creeping up to the sky. He took a look around and saw Cabin Eight was glowing just as Cabin Seven when the sun was up.

He did his usual stretches and ran laps through the entire camp. On his route around camp, he saw a few nymphs that were making their way to the pavilion to make breakfast. Some of them were surprised to see a camper awake way too early, but he didn't bother them, so they left him alone to his morning workout.

When the conch horn blew, he made his way to the dining pavilion, only to see a commotion happening.

"Did you find him?"

"No. What about you?"

"Where could he be? He couldn't have disappeared, could he?"

Naruto entered the pavilion to check it out.

"Hey guys! What's going on?" Naruto inquired.

"There you are! Where have you been!?" His cabin yelled at the same time.

"Oh sorry guys, I just woke up so much earlier than everyone. I didn't want to disturb anyone." Naruto apologized scratching the back of his head.

"So Naruto, where did you go?" Luke asked.

"Oh, I just went for some laps around camp." Naruto replied.

"That was way too early for any of us to wake up."

"Well, back in my world, my sensei ALWAYS made us meet up early with my teammates, but he was a no show all the time. That basically made it a habit, and it stuck with me here."

"Well, at least you're back."

Luke turned to the rest of his cabinmates and said, "Come on guys! Let's eat!"

Now, Naruto was famished. He felt that the run took a lot of energy on that run and that he needed to eat a whole lot of food.

After breakfast, Naruto went to the showers again to wash off the dirt and sweat that had gathered during his run. After that, he joined his cabin mates for an Ancient Greek Lesson. He was surprised that Annabeth was the instructor, but Connor and Travis told him that she was the best at speaking Greek at camp.

During the lessons, Naruto picked up on Greek pretty easily. Even back in the Elemental Nations and when he was brought here to this world, he always had a hard time trying to learn a language. Greek just came naturally for him. He definitely enjoyed this class.

As they were heading out after the lesson, Grover came trotting towards them with some news. "Naruto! Chiron wanted to let me know Percy is awake and is at the Big House."

"Really!?" Naruto shouted in surprise, and ran towards the Big House with Grover and Annabeth following closely behind.

When he got there, he saw Percy sitting in the same seat he was sitting the day before with Chiron now back in his wheelchair. However, the camp director didn't look too happy at the black haired boy.

"Uhh Percy, what did you do to piss Mr. D off?" Naruto asked as he arrived at the big house. At the sound of his voice, Percy's eyes went wide. He turned around to see his blonde haired friend walking towards him.

"NARUTO!" he said leaping off his chair to run and give his friend a hug. "Thank God you're okay! What's going on?"

"I know this is a lot to take in, Percy." Naruto comforted his friend. "It will take time for you to accept who we are, but what Chiron said is true."

"You mean the gods being real and my mom–"

Naruto smile disappeared on his face and all he could say was, "I'm sorry Percy." Everyone else too, well everyone except Mr. D, felt sad for Percy. His friend just looked down in sadness.

Naruto, who wanted to brighten up the situation, brought Annabeth forward and introduced her to his friend.

"Well anyway, Percy this is Annabeth. She found us unconscious at the border and to camp."

Percy looked up to look at Annabeth. When he saw her, his cheeks were colored pink. Naruto saw this and he was trying so hard to hide his laugh. There was silence for a few seconds as Annabeth stared at Percy just as she stared at Naruto. She was staring at him like she was studying him, or finding a way to take him down.

Finally, Annabeth broke the silence saying, "You drool when you sleep." To which Naruto burst laughed at the expense of his friend. After that, she sprinted off.

Meanwhile, Percy looked like his pride was hurt, but his eyes went wide when he saw Chiron shifting as if trying out of his wheelchair.

"What a relief!" Chiron said. "I'd been cooped in there for so long, my fetlocks have fallen asleep."

"Come, I will take you to the other campers." Chiron told Percy who was gaping like a fish at seeing Chiron's centaur form.

Mr. D let out a huge yawn, say to Grover, "I'm tired. I believe I will take a nap before the sing-along tonight. But first, Grover, we need to talk, again about your less than perfect performance on this assignment."

"Y-yes sir." Grover answered with his face beading with sweat.

Mr. D swept into the Big House with Grover following behind him his head hanging low.

Percy turned to Chiron, "Will he be okay?"

"Oh, Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job." Chiron replied.

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that. Why is here anyway?" Naruto inquired.

"He's been ah…grounded, I guess you could say, for chasing an off limits nymph. He just can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed back on Olympus."

"That explains why he's grumpy all the time." Naruto shrugged.

"Wait, did you say Olympus, as in Mount Olympus?" Percy asked. "You mean there's really a palace there?"

"Oh boy, this is going to be a long one." Naruto mumbled to himself and let out a loud and deep sigh.

So during the whole tour, Chiron explained to Percy about Western Civilization and how the gods migrated following where the flame was strongest.

Naruto tagged along with Percy as Chiron took them on the same route as yesterday so that Percy could be comfortable. While walking, Percy was trying hard not to walk behind Chiron like he was on a Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade working as pooper scooper.

After a long tour filled with a lot of questions from Percy, they made it to the cabins where Annabeth was waiting for them in front of Cabin Eleven.

When they reached her, she looked at Percy critically like she was thinking about how much she drooled.

Naruto whispered into her ears, "You should see his pillow when we were back at Yancy Academy." This caused Annabeth to chuckle.

"Hey I am standing right here." Percy said.

Chiron cleared his throat. "Annabeth, I have masters' archery class at noon. Will you take him from here?"

"Yes sir,"

"Cabin Eleven," Chiron told Percy gesturing towards the door. "Make yourself at home." At that he galloped away towards his class.

"I gotta run too, Percy. I'll see you later." Naruto said.

Percy gave a timid nod. "Thanks for sticking around."

"No prob." He replied with a smile. He then turned to Annabeth and tapped her forehead, "I'll see you later too."

Naruto then left too leaving Annabeth to introduce Percy to his cabinmates.

* * *

**STABLES**

Of all the places here at Camp Half-Blood, Naruto couldn't get over the stables. He had seen some weird things when he came to this world, but he didn't expect to see that pegasi, the winged horses, were real. When they came by the stables again during Percy's tour, he felt that he had to go back and look at the pegasi again

So, he made his way back to the stables to check out the pegasi. The stables were made of wood painted in white though some of the colour was beginning to fade while being clad with a mix of brick and stone.

He walked down the line watching at the pegasi in awe. He stayed like that until someone sneaked up on him with the attempt to startle him.

"Hey!" She shouted. "Nice to see you're taking interest in the horses again."

A girl sneaked up behind him and called his attention. This girl was slim and had black hair and blue eyes. Now, this girl was beautiful, very beautiful, in fact that any boy would fall head over heels for her. This is Silena Beauregard.

Without looking back, he said, "Nice try, but you won't get me that easily."

"Aww, you're no fun." Silena pouted.

Naruto turned around to look at the girl behind him. As he was looking at her, her eyes seemed to be changing colors like a kaleidoscope. He, then, let out a playful laugh while scratching the back of his head.

"So, you're in charge here?" Naruto asked.

Silena nodded. "Yeah, I'm the instructor for Pegasus riding. Silena Beauregard, Daughter of Aphrodite. You must be–"

"Yep, Naruto Uzumaki, at your service."

"You have made quite the talk of the camp after your display last night."

"Yeah, I get that a lot." Naruto said with a bit of a chuckle.

"So, anyway, you are taking an interest to the horses."

"Yeah, even back in the Leaf Village, where I'm from, we don't see stuff like this."

"They're beautiful, aren't they?"

"Yeah," Naruto agreed as he turned back to look at the horses.

"Would you like to ride one?"

"Uhh…"

**BOOOOM**

Naruto was about to answer when something exploded. Naruto and Silena looked at each other and went wide eyed thinking it was an attack. Both of them ran out of the stables towards the direction of the explosion.

When they arrived at the site of the explosion, they were confused at what they saw. They weren't exactly expecting the explosion to come from the bathrooms.

When Naruto saw Percy in the middle of the commotion, Naruto laughed so loud the other camper's attention shifted to him. He caught this and said, "What? Don't you think it's funny?"

He neared his friend and, this time stifling a laugh, offered a hand to help him get up. "So, Percy, you didn't like the bathrooms, did you?"

"Ha ha, very funny." Percy said.

Percy was looking a little worse for wear. It looked like he did something that drained him of his energy. All around him was drenched in water including Clarisse and Annabeth.

Silena, on the other hand, went to Clarisse who was lying on a puddle of water dripping wet.

"Uhm, Clarisse, the camp welcome didn't go as planned, didn't it?" Silena said.

"Yeah, something like that." Clarisse replied. "Come on let's get out of here."

"Wait," Naruto called out before they could leave. "I'll dry you off, you too Annabeth."

Naruto did a simple wind manipulation jutsu and dried both girls off.

Clarisse thanked Naruto, then gave Percy a murderous look before leaving.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked.

"Wind manipulation." Naruto answered.

"Wind manipulation?"

"Yep, every ninja back in my world has an element they are most in tuned to. It happens that mine is wind. When you master it can make simple attacks, like throwing a kunai, deadlier and it can come handy in chores, like drying clothes."

"Wow that is awesome."

After answering Annabeth's questions, he turned to Percy and asked him, "What did you do to piss Clarisse off?"

Percy told him about how in the middle of their conversation with Annabeth, Clarisse interrupted them to give Percy his 'welcoming rites.' Percy tried to leave out the part where he was knocked down to the ground when he tried to fight back, but Annabeth butted in and mentioned it much to Percy's dismay. Then, he told him about how he was dragged to the toilets when suddenly the toilets exploded.

"_Hmmm, something about the water again."_ Naruto thought. _"To top it all off, he's completely dry."_

Naruto pushed that thought out of his head. He looked at his friend, and shook his head. "You gotta learn how to fight, Percy. The kids here aren't like the one's at Yancy."

"Tell me about it." Percy replied.

Annabeth was deep in thought in the place where Naruto left her. The boys went towards her, and Naruto snapped his fingers in front of her face to get her attention.

"Earth to Annabeth," Naruto said.

"Sorry, " Annabeth said. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" Percy asked.

"I'm thinking, I want you to be on my team for Capture the Flag."

(LINE BREAK)

**A FEW DAYS LATER**

Percy seemed to love camp and the activities. It definitely helped when he learned that Naruto was in the same cabin as him. The two boys had settled into a routine, kind of like when they took classes at Yancy Academy.

The first night Percy was there, he was surprised about the burnt offerings for the gods. Just like Naruto, he thought it was going to smell bad, but was proven wrong when he took a whiff of the smoke. Then, before the sing along at the amphitheatre, Mr. D introduced him to the whole camp. He was shocked when Mr. D introduced him getting his name wrong.

The next day, Percy joined his cabin mates in an Ancient Greek lesson with Annabeth, and they talked about the gods in the present tense. The boy was surprised that he was able to read properly from the first time. _"I guess Annabeth was right about the dyslexia." _He thought.

After Ancient Greek lessons, Naruto and Percy went around the different activities trying to find out what they were good at. Chiron tried to teach them Archery which surprisingly Naruto excelled at. Percy, on the other hand, was certainly not good at all, but Chiron didn't complain even though he accidentally fired arrows at his tail more than a couple of times which made Naruto laugh at his friend every time that happens.

Both boys also tried foot racing. Naruto could keep up with the wood nymphs head to head thanks to his shinobi training, but Percy was always left in the dust. Naruto and the wood nymph tried to make him feel better by telling him that they had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods, but Percy still felt a little humiliated at being slower than a tree.

When they tried wrestling, Naruto, again, was great at this. He always got Clarisse flat on her back. Percy, when he gets on the mat, always got pulverized, much to the glee of Clarisse. "There's more where that came from." She would always say.

Finally, when they tried canoeing, Percy was great at it this time, much to his dismay since he thought that it wasn't heroic considering he killed the Minotaur. For Naruto, well, let's just say he wasn't good at it. The first time he got on the canoe, he couldn't get it to move forward. He always found himself moving around in circles much to the blonde's frustration.

Both boys loved camp. They considered it their new home and the campers their new family. Although, Percy felt bitter that he didn't know who his real father was. Naruto, though, still felt hopeful that he will get to know who his mother was soon.

* * *

**THURSDAY, A DAY BEFORE CAPTURE THE FLAG**

Today, the duo had sword fighting lessons with Luke. Percy was paired with Luke, while Naruto was paired with Chris Rodriguez. They started with basic thrusts and parries. He couldn't keep up with Luke who was way out of his league. Naruto held his own as he sparred with Chris, but it just wasn't Naruto's taste for weapons.

When Luke called for a break, Percy was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice water on his head; Percy did the same thinking it was a good idea. Instantly, he felt a surge of strength course through his veins.

"Okay! Everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."

Everyone, including Naruto, gathered around to watch. He told everyone he would be demonstrating a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword.

He demonstrated the move on Percy in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of his hand.

"Now in real time," Luke said, after Percy had retrieved his weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off."

"Ready, Percy?" he asked.

Percy nodded. This time though, his senses opened up. He was fighting Luke, toe to toe. Luke then began to press Percy harder. Since the sword wasn't balanced in his hand, the sword grew heavier the longer they fought. So, Percy went for the disarming maneuver. Surprisingly, he came out on top; Luke's sword went clanging on the ground.

The other campers were silent. Naruto had a huge grin on his face, and gave his friend a thumbs up.

Percy lowered my sword. "Um, sorry."

For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak. Eventually he said, "Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"

Percy didn't want to. The short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned him. But Luke insisted.

This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit his hilt and sent his weapon skidding across the floor.

After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"

Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised Percy with an entirely new interest.

"Maybe," Luke said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword..."

The group broke off back into pairs for them to try it along with their partners.

The lesson ended when the sound of a sword clanging on the ground permeated through the sword arena.

Naruto had managed to pull off the move on Chris, his sparring partner. The odd thing was Naruto had no clue what happened. He just pictured the move happening in his head and his mind just clicked as he processed the best way to perform the move.

Luke looked at him curiously. He gave him a thumbs up and said, "Good job Naruto."

"Uhh, Thanks." Naruto said.

After the sword fighting lessons, the Hermes Cabin broke off to get showers just in time for dinner. At dinner, everything went just as usual, only this time, Mr. D announced that there would be Capture the Flag the next day. He announced that, presently, the golden laurels were held by the Ares Cabin, causing cheers to erupt from the Ares Table. After that, they went to the amphitheatre, as usual, to have the sing along.

* * *

**FRIDAY, THE DAY OF CAPTURE THE FLAG**

Today, camp activities were temporarily suspended in order for the two groups to plan and strategize for the games that would be held that night.

From what was explained to them, this was held every Friday and would serve as first-hand experience in combat. It would provide the demigods the real life training the demigods needed to survive in the real world.

For tonight's games, the camp was split into two groups, the blue team and the red team. The blue team was comprised of the Athena, Hermes and Apollo cabins. On the red team, there were the Aphrodite, Demeter, Aphrodite and Hephaestus Cabins.

Naruto, Grover and Percy were sitting on the bank of the lake after trying to climb the climbing wall. Grover was an expert at it, and Naruto was great at it too. Percy, on the other hand, almost got singed by the lava.

Luke found them sitting there. "There you guys are!" She said.

"Hey Luke!" The trio greeted.

"What brings you here?" Naruto asked.

"We need you at HQ." Luke said.

"Me?"

"Yeah! I figured you could help Annabeth out with the plan for tonight."

Naruto looked at his companions. They just nodded and told him to go.

Naruto turned back to Luke and said, "Come on then."

So, Luke and Naruto made their way the temporary headquarters for the games, which was where Annabeth taught Ancient Greek. Naruto saw that many of Annabeth's brothers and sisters and Lee Fletcher, counsellor of the Apollo Cabin were there. They had set up maps of the area. Right now there were scribbles and arrows drawn over it, indicating the plans they have come up with.

"Annabeth, I brought Naruto." Luke called out.

"Thanks Luke." Annabeth said.

"Sorry to tear you away from your friends, Naruto." She told the older blonde.

"Nah, it's okay." Naruto said. "So, what do you have in mind?"

"Well, we have made a bunch of scenario's for tonight, but we don't know which one to use yet."

"We need to know who they leave to defend their flag and who they send to capture ours." Luke added.

"Hmmm, I got a solution for that." Naruto said bringing his hands up to form a cross with his fingers.

In a puff of smoke, another Naruto was formed in their midst which caused everyone to gasp at the sight.

"How's that gonna help?" Lee Fletcher asked.

"This jutsu was originally made for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering without putting the user in danger." Naruto explained.

"When the clones dispel," Naruto said while he dispelled the clone. "The information gathered by the clone goes back to original. If I send my clones as ahead before the fighting starts, we could…"

"We could learn their plan and act accordingly." Annabeth said hugging Naruto to death. "You're a genius!"

"Told you he could help." Luke told the Apollo Cabin Head Counselor.

"Luke, do you know what this means?" She said. "We now have a trump card when the hunters come and visit."

"Hunters, you mean the Hunters of Artemis? You play Capture the Flag with the Hunters of Artemis?"

"Yeah," Annabeth said with a sad look on her face. "Despite having the home field advantage, the hunters have won the last fifty games."

"Ouch." Was all Naruto could say. "They're that good?"

"Yeah they have a centuries worth of experience hunting monsters alongside their patron."

Naruto looked over at Luke who stayed silent at the mention of the Hunters. Naruto figured he had a run in with them that didn't end very well.

Annabeth then went back to her siblings to discuss some plans, while Naruto asked Luke to go with him to the forges.

"What do we need go to the forges for?" Luke asked.

"I don't really want a sword for a weapon." He said while bringing out a kunai from his pouch to show Luke. "I very much prefer using this. I was thinking they could forge some for me in Celestial Bronze."

"Hmmm…I don't think anyone would be there since they would be planning for the games. If there were any, they may not help you since they are on the opposite team."

"Well that sucks…" Naruto said with his head hung low

"Let's try the armory." Luke said which caused the blonde to perk up.

Naruto nodded.

So, Luke took Naruto to the Armory so they could find weapons for Naruto. When they arrived there, Luke began digging for some weapons for Naruto.

"Hmmm… I'm pretty sure we don't have any kunai here." Luke told Naruto. "Will hunting knives do?"

Naruto took a look at the hunting knives and held them in his hands.

"Well, they are close to kunai. I guess these will do for now. Thanks Luke!"

"No prob." Luke said. "It's smart to stick with weapons you're good at while practicing other skills."

Naruto nodded.

"I gotta go back to HQ so we can talk more about the plans." Luke said "You can go back to Percy if you want. I'm sure he needs some encouragement for tonight."

"See you later then, Luke!"

Naruto gave Luke a fist bump and they went their separate ways.

* * *

**BACK WITH PERCY AND GROVER**

"Yo I'm back!" Naruto greeted his friends. Naruto found his friends still sitting on the same spot. When he neared them, he overheard them talking about stable cleaning duty and a quest.

Percy and Grover turned to greet their friend, "Hey Naruto!"

"Nice hunting knives," Percy said.

"Thanks. Luke found them for me for tonight."

"Tonight... Clarisse is probably gonna kill me tonight."

"Don't worry; there would be a lot of battles tonight that they won't notice you."

"I guess so."

Percy was thankful that his friends were there to keep him calm. They sat in silence when Percy began to ask questions about the empty cabins. Grover explained that Cabin Two was Hera's Cabin and her being the goddess of marriage. He also told him about the oath of the big three.

"And the brothers kept their word, no kids?" Percy asked.

Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo; he just couldn't help himself. When their child was born, they named her Thalia."

"Typical of him," Naruto said.

"So, Thalia met up with two other half-bloods some time ago and became close. Around that time, a satyr was sent to bring her to camp, but there was nothing he could do. All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a horde of hellhounds."

"They were about to be overwhelmed, when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two to safety. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."

Naruto and Percy stared at the pine tree in the distance, but Naruto was also amazed at the courage the half-blood had made to save her friends. At that moment, he remembered his parents who gave their lives for him and the village.

Then, Percy began asking about the Underworld.

"Grover," Percy asked, "Have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"

"Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus, Hercules, Houdini."

"And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?"

"No. Never. Orpheus came close..."

Naruto butted in, "Percy, you're not seriously thinking about going, are you?"

"No," Percy lied. "I was just wondering."

But, Naruto didn't believe his friend. He knew he was planning to do something stupid. Grover too doubted that Percy was just really wondering about going to the Underworld, but he decided to drop it, since he had to go the strawberry fields to help with growing the strawberries,

The two decided to get up too so they could take a shower before dinner and get ready for the upcoming Capture the Flag.

* * *

**A/N: Chapter 8 completed. I tried t fit the Capture the flag game here, but it would get too long and cramped if I still added that story line in this chapter. **

**Next chapter will be the Capture the Flag Game and the claiming of Percy and Naruto. I will also have Artemis explain to the gods how she had Naruto as a son. Though, I would not make Artemis break her oath along with other goddesses. I will just have to think about it as I write the chapter.**

**Thanks for reading. Don't forget to write a review of what you might want see in the story. **


	9. Capture the Flag

**Chapter 9**

The conch horn blew in distance signalling dinnertime. The two boys finished washing up and changing after a long day.

Dinner came and the usual offerings and toasts to the gods happened. Everyone ate a hearty meal before the most awaited games of the night.

When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and everyone all stood at their tables.

Campers yelled and cheered as the Athena cabin ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening grey, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Ares Cabin ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

"Those are the flags?" Percy yelled through the noise.

"Yeah." Luke replied.

"Athena and Ares always lead the teams?" Naruto asked.

"Not always, but often." Luke said.

"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do repaint the flag?" Percy asked.

Luke grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."

Chiron hammered his hooves on the marble floor.

"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, ox-hide shields coated in metal.

"Here, you will need these." Luke said as he gave identical armours and helmets to Naruto and Percy.

They both took their equipment and strapped them on.

"Whoa," Percy said. "We're really supposed to use these?"

Luke looked at me as if I were crazy. "Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Oh yeah, Annabeth said you'll be on border patrol."

Percy was carrying a shield that was the size of an NBA backboard, with a big caduceus in the middle. It looked like it weighed about a million pounds. He also carried a sword that was terribly balanced in his hand.

"_I could snowboard on one of these. Damn, I wish no one expects me to run with these." _Percy thought.

Percy noticed Naruto didn't put on his helmet.

"Aren't you going to wear a helmet?" He asked.

"The armour is heavy enough already." Naruto replied. "Plus, it would obscure my vision."

'Well, suit yourself." Percy said with a pout. "At least you don't have a big bullies waiting to skewer you."

"It'll be fine." Naruto said with a thumb up. "I got you."

Then, Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"

The group wearing blue horse-plummed helmets cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team, wearing red horse-plummed helmets, yelled taunts at them as they headed off toward the north. Naruto noticed Clarisse and her buddies eyeing Percy like he was prey.

Percy pulled Naruto as they caught up with Annabeth at the front of the group.

"Hey!" Percy said. "So what's the plan?"

"Just watch Clarisse's spear," Annabeth said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"

"Border patrol, whatever that means." Percy said.

"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away." Annabeth said. "As for the plan, we'll figure it out when the game starts."

Naruto narrowed his eyes remembering the look Clarisse was giving Percy.

"Hold up!" Naruto said. "You aren't using Percy as bait, are you?"

"What?" Percy said.

"No…" was all she could say.

"Hmmm, I thought so." Naruto said.

Naruto turned to his friend. "I'll come for you as soon as I can."

Percy didn't like what was going to happen, but he trusted that his friend would come through for him.

* * *

**MOUNT OLYMPUS**

A familiar auburn haired goddess was sitting on a couch in her temple. In front of her, there was a window-like object on a rainbow projecting a feed of Capture the Flag game, just like the other gods. The only difference is hers was focused on a blonde haired boy among some campers with blue horse-plummed helmets.

She had her hands in front of her face with her fingers interlaced and her elbows were resting on her lap. She took a deep breath. This woman was waiting for this day for a very long time, the day she would reveal to the world her son. She also worried about how her girls, the Hunters, would react. But, she resolved herself, and mentally asked a favour from Iris to open a similar viewing window for her girls to watch.

* * *

**HUNTERS OF ARTEMIS MAIN CAMP, IN AN UNKNOWN LOCATION**

In the middle of a forest unseen by mortals, there was a campsite that contained various different sized silver tents with a big campfire in the middle. Surrounding the campfire were girls wearing white shirts, silver jackets, silver camo pants and black combat boots. They were enjoying their meals when a viewing window similar to what the gods and goddesses were using.

One of the girls that was directly in front of the viewing window screamed as she saw it appear.

"Someone, get rid of it!" The girl next to her screamed too.

"Enough." A girl who looked older than the others wearing a silver tiara on her head spoke out with authority.

"But–, "Another girl tried to protest.

"No buts," The girl with the silver tiara said. "There is no doubt that thou Lady is showing us this for a reason. Therefore, we will watch, and we won't complain."

_"What are you trying to show us, my Lady?" _Zoe thought.

Murmurs of complaint were heard from the group as they gathered around the viewing screen to watch. Frowns could be seen on their faces as they watched, definitely not happy about it.

* * *

**CAMP HALF-BLOOD**

Naruto stood among the campers in the blue team as they waited for the horn to sound.

When the horn sounded in the distance, Annabeth gave Naruto the go signal.

The older blonde raised two fingers with each hand, forming a cross. **"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"**

In a puff of smoke, ten clones of Naruto appeared causing those who haven't seen the jutsu yet to gasp. The ten clones, then, jumped into the trees of into different directions hidden in the shadows. The original had his eyes closed waiting for the information from his

All the gods were watching watched in disbelief at what they watched. The gods quickly realized that the blonde boy was from the Elemental nations. Meanwhile, the Hunters were watching wide-eyed having never seen anything like that before.

"Naruto, how much–"Annabeth stood beside Naruto tapping him on the shoulder. No doubt her ADHD was kicking in making her restless.

"Wait."

After a few moments, Naruto opened his eyes. "Got it."

"Okay there are four different groups. They split one group into two going at the left side and right side of the forest. It looks like they want to sandwich our defenders. The other group is lying in wait a little ways away from the flag to wait for our attackers. The third group is a group of five, heading towards the border. Just as I suspected, it's Clarisse and four of her siblings. The last is a group of two guarding the flag."

"Naruto, that is fantastic." She said squeezing Naruto in a hug. "Thank the gods you are on our team."

Annabeth, then divided the blue team into four smaller groups. They were about to send the teams out when Naruto called out.

"Uhm, can I modify the plan a little bit?"

"What do you have in mind?" Luke asked.

"I laid down a lot of traps on the both sides of the forest. It would be faster if we concentrate on defending one side at a time. How about, we combine the groups to intercept the left and right groups. Then, we do a pincer maneuver on one side. That would quickly dispatch the side we decide to go on. The traps would slow down the other side until we can send a group to get there. After dispatching the first group, we can send a small group to get the flag."

"That could just work." Annabeth said.

They rearranged their teams and headed out. Naruto jumped into trees towards Percy.

* * *

**CREEK, THE BOUNDARY LINE**

Percy was stationed next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks. Standing there alone, with a big blue-feathered helmet and a huge shield was Percy holding a bronze sword practicing some swings. He heard a small canine-like growl somewhere close by.

Naruto made it up the trees near the creek and saw Percy muttering something about Annabeth wanting him on her team and about him being used as bait. Then, Naruto also heard the same growling sound. He was about to go investigate, but he heard an explosion from the underbrush on the other side of the creek and five different screams from the bushes.

"CREAM THE PUNK!" Clarisse screamed.

The five of them charged Percy.

Naruto threw a smoke bomb down in the middle of the group and disappeared from the trees in a swirl of leaves.

The group, including Percy, were coughing and trying to fan the smoke away. When the smoke cleared, Clarisse and her siblings had a murderous look on his face.

"ENOUGH GAMES, PRISSY!"

"B-but…"

He didn't have a chance to answer when Clarisse and her siblings continued their charge.

Just then, a hand tore through the ground under one of Clarisse's siblings and grabbed his ankle. The hand pulled him down underground until only his head was visible.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" The Ares camper yelled.

Clarisse and her remaining goons stopped again for the second time when Naruto appeared in their midst in a puff of white smoke.

"I hate to ruin the party, but I can't let you gang up on him." He said pointing at Percy.

"Nice timing, Naruto!" Percy said.

"Shut up Ninja Boy!" Clarisse said angrily. "I WILL skewer him for dousing me with toilet water. Get out of the way or I skewer you too."

Naruto shook his head.

"Suit yourself." Clarisse ordered her remaining siblings. "GET HIM!"

"Oi! What about me!?" The buried Ares camper asked, but was ignored by his siblings.

The four of them surrounded the duo and, for the third time that night, charged their swords in hand.

"I go left, you go right!" Naruto instructed his friend.

"Got it!" Percy replied.

Naruto then turned to face his opponents and parried the two swords aimed at him.

_"I guess they learned their lessons about charging one by one."_ Naruto thought.

"What are you gonna do now Ninja boy?" The guy on the right said.

"Now your hands are full." The guy on the left said.

"I don't think so." Naruto said disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Naruto disappeared in front of the two leaving his opponents bewildered.

"Where'd he go?" One of them said.

"Come out you coward." The other taunted.

"Over here" Naruto said from behind them.

The two Ares campers kept coming at Naruto. Naruto kept blocking with his hunting knife and avoiding attempts to bash him with their shields.

The two thought they were overwhelming Naruto as he was stepping back for some reason, but Naruto kept coming back with slashes of his own pushing them back a bit. They kept fighting until Naruto was backed up to a tree.

"No where else to go." One of them said.

Naruto just grinned.

"Quit joking around." The other one said as he stepped forward.

Upon stepping, he triggered a trap of wire covered with leaves that tightened around his ankles and pulled him upside down making him drop his sword.

Naruto laughed out loud. "I got you!"

"LET HIM GO!" The remaining Ares camper roared.

The blonde sent a kick aimed at his chest to which his opponent narrowly blocked with his shield. The force of the kick sent his opponent skidding backwards a few inches. When he lowered his shield, he didn't have any time for a breather when Naruto charged sending a barrage of slashes and stabs from his knife. the remaining Ares camper almost couldn't keep up, but thanks to his shield, he was able to narrowly block them. He was able to send occasional attacks at Naruto which he just dodged.

During one of those stabs, Naruto stepped on a wet portion of the ground which caused him to fall flat on his back.

"I GOT YOU NOW!" He yelled as stabbed down at Naruto.

*POOF* The Naruto he stabbed disappeared in a cloud of smoke revealing a log from somewhere in the forest.

"Dodge this." Naruto said from afar as a lot of shuriken flew towards the Ares camper causing him to raise his shield to block them. The shuriken flew past him hitting the trees behind him.

"Ha! You-"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence when a black wire pulled him back towards the tree directly behind him.

Naruto walked out of the shadows laughing out loud. "Works every time."

"I will get you."

"Yeah yeah yeah."

Naruto then turned to look at his friend who was just about finished.

* * *

At the same time, on Percy's end, he blocked the spear and sword with his shield. At that moment, he felt a painful tingling sensation all over his body. His hair stood on end. His shield arm went numb, and the air burned. The other camper saw the opening and slammed Percy in the chest with the butt of his sword, and he hit the dirt.

Percy managed to raise his sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now both his arms felt numb.

"Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."

Both Clarisse and her partner were too busy laughing that they didn't notice their siblings were being toyed with by Naruto.

"The flag is that way," Percy told her. He tried to make it sound angry, but it didn't come out that way given his condition.

"Yeah," Clarisse's companion said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."

"What about Naruto?" He asked.

"I don't know or care about who made your plan, but since he came to your aid, it saves us the time from looking for him." The guy said.

"Plus, you your cabin look stupid without my help," Percy added. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.

Two of them attacked Percy. He backed up toward the creek, tried to raise his shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck him straight in the ribs. Luckily, the armoured breastplate prevented him from being shish-kebabbed. Unfortunately though, the electric point just about shocked Percy. Her partner slashed his sword across Percy's arm, leaving a good-size cut.

"No maiming," Percy managed to say.

"Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege.

He pushed Percy into the creek and he landed with a splash. They laughed at him, including the guy who was buried underground with his head exposed.

But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up Percy's senses, as if he just ate one of Sally's double espresso jelly beans.

Clarisse and her partner came into the creek to get Percy, but he stood to meet them. He knew what to do. He swung the flat of his sword against the guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. Percy hit him so hard that Percy could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water.

"Oops," Percy said.

Clarisse counterattacked. Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, Percy caught the shaft between the edge of his shield and his sword, and he snapped it like a twig.

"Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"

She probably would've said worse, but Percy smacked her between the eyes with the butt of his and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek.

Clarisse saw her siblings caught in different traps, one hanging upside down from a tree branch, and the other tied to a tree with some kind of black wire. She roared in frustration at the sight.

Percy turned to see Naruto was done with his fight as well.

Naruto called out "See, I told you not to worry."

Percy just chuckled and both of them bumped their fist, just like every time they made Grover's bullies pay back at Yancy Academy.

Then they both heard yelling, elated screams, and they saw Luke racing towards the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by Connor and Travis covering his retreat, and a few Apollo campers behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares campers who fought Percy got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse. Those who fought Naruto also roared in frustration seeing their banner being taken.

"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."

Clarisse and her buddy tried to stagger after Luke, but Naruto and a clone appeared behind them, one each, and placed a hunting knife on their neck.

"Don't move." Both Narutos said.

Luke ran across into friendly territory. The blue team exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn. The game was over the blue team won.

"Hey what about us?" those tied in traps and the guy buried under ground complained.

Naruto threw kunai aiming at the black wire. The one hanging on the tree branch fell down on another Hephaestus camper who was chasing Luke a while back. The one tied to a tree was freed. With a half ram seal, the ground opened up just a little to give way for the last trapped Ares Camper to be climb out.

Out of nowhere, a disembodied voice spoke right next to Percy. "Not bad, hero." The voice said to Percy.

"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.

She turned to Naruto and said, "Naruto, those plans were brilliant. They were immediately overwhelmed. And that fighting–" She swooned.

Naruto chuckled while scratching the back of his head.

"You were watching the whole time? Where were you when Clarisse tried to skewer me?"

"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but ..." Annabeth shrugged. "You didn't need help."

Then she noticed Percy's wounded arm. "How did you do that?"

"Sword cut," Percy said. "What do you think?"

"Wait. You have a sword cut?" Naruto asked.

"No. He had a sword cut. Look at it." Annabeth shook his head pointing at the wound.

The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As Naruto and Percy watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.

"_Yet another thing with the water." _Naruto thought. "

"I-I don't get it," Percy said.

"As slow as ever, Percy," Naruto said making his friend growl in annoyance at the blonde's comment.

Annabeth was thinking hard. She looked down at Percy's feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."

"What-"

Naruto caught on and encouraged his friend. "It's okay Percy. Just do it."

Percy came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. His arms started to go numb again. His adrenaline rush left him. I almost fell over, but Naruto caught him.

"Oh, Styx," Annabeth cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus..."

"Really? You still assumed it was Zeus after the bathroom incident?" Naruto asked to which Annabeth just glared at him.

Just then, everyone gasped when a bright light shone over Percy's head. The light died down and revealed a hologram of a green glowing trident floating above Percy's head.

"It has been determined." Chiron said.

"My father?" Percy asked, completely bewildered.

Annabeth nodded, "This is really not good."

"Poseidon," Chiron said. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

Many began to kneel to Percy, including Clarisse though she didn't look happy about it.

Naruto's head perked up when he heard the growling sound again. This time, he had a chance to sniff the air. He picked up the scent of embers and a dog.

He stood up and looked towards the bushed.

Chiron saw him and asked, "What's wrong, my boy?"

Naruto didn't answer. Instead, he threw a hunting knife towards the bushes. The sound of a dog crying in pain sounded through the air. A black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers jumped out of the bushes clearly looking at Percy like he was prey.

Everyone drew their weapons. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek which Naruto understood as "Stand Ready! My bow!"

"A hellhound!" Someone shouted.

The hellhound jumped at Percy. Everyone else was frozen in place, including Percy. Only Annabeth was able to move trying to get in front of Percy. She shouted, "Percy, run!"

As fast as the hellhound, Naruto jumped in front of Percy with a blue orb formed on his hand. He kicked the hellhound's face upward until his belly was exposed. He thrust the orb on his belly shouting, **"RASENGAN!" **The attack sent the mutt flying back towards the trees.

The hellhound was beginning to get up with his belly starting to mend. Naruto grabbed a bow from a nearby Apollo camper and notched three arrows. He fired at hellhound. The arrows hit the hellhounds vital organs killing it instantly.

Naruto lowered his bow and returned it back to the Apollo camper.

"That was amazing!" A camper shouted from the crowd. Everyone was about to swarm him when another bright light shone, this time above Naruto's head. Many of the girls in the group realizing what was happening had their fingers crossed hoping he was not related to them.

When the light died down, it revealed a silvery image of a bow and arrow with a crescent moon behind it.

Naruto looked at it too. His eyes, including everyone else's, widened when they saw the symbol above his head. They had been seeing this symbol every day on Cabin Eight, but they never expected seeing this symbol when someone was claimed.

There were murmurs in the crowd.

"It can't be."

"This must be a mistake."

"What does this mean?"

"But, her oath…"

All murmurs died down when Chiron spoke out, "It has been determined."

"Artemis," He said. "Goddess of the Hunt, Archery, Moon and the Wilderness. Hail, Naruto Uzumaki, Son of the Huntress."

(LINE BREAK)

**MOUNT OLYMPUS, JUST BEFORE THE NARUTO'S CLAIMING **

Everyone watching the game was amazed at the fighting prowess of this blonde haired boy, Naruto, from the Hermes Cabin, including Ares who had seen his sons' asses handed to them. They were even more amazed at seeing Naruto's plan get executed by his teammates. The chests of Hermes, Apollo and Athena swelled with pride after blue team, which contained the cabins of their children, won the game.

"Uh oh, Zeus/Father won't like that." The gods and goddesses said when Poseidon claimed his child. Thunder boomed in the distance. They even heard Zeus bellow in rage when he learned of this.

A wave of panic and worry were felt by the gods when they heard the growl of a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They were surprised Naruto finished off the hellhound quickly protecting Percy from being the mutt's dinner.

"You are just like your parents, always protecting everyone." A familiar auburn haired goddess with silvery yellow eyes like the winter morning said as she watched Naruto dispatch the hellhound. This is Artemis, goddess of the hunt, moon, archery and the wilderness.

She smiled and said, "I guess it's time."

She focused her energy on Naruto. On the viewing screen, a bright light shown above Naruto's head. When the light died down, she could see the look on disbelief on everyone at Camp had, including her son.

All over Olympus, different reactions from the gods and goddesses can be heard from her temple, especially Apollo who was elated at finally having a nephew and Aphrodite thinking Artemis finally had taken her advice and finding a man to love.

Sitting on the couch in her temple, she could feel the different energy signatures of the other gods and goddesses approaching.

* * *

**HUNTERS OF ARTEMIS MAIN CAMP, AFTER NARUTO'S CLAIMING**

The mouths of the hunters fell open when they saw the symbol of their patron appear above the head of Naruto. They couldn't believe what their eyes were seeing.

"THIS HAS TO BE A TRICK!" One of the hunters shouted.

"LADY ARTEMIS WOULD NEVER BREAK HER OATH!" Another one complained.

"Zoe, what do you– "someone was about to ask when a loud THUD could be heard.

They looked over to see their lieutenant lying on the floor passing out from shock.

"ZOE!" They all shouted as they gathered around her fanning her and checking her over. Those who weren't taking care of Zoe prayed to their patron to explain to them everything that was happening.

Then, a bright light appeared engulfing the group teleporting everyone away.

* * *

**A/N: Hey Guys. Chapter 9 of the story completed.**

**Thanks for the support this story is getting. If you want to suggest something for the upcoming chapters, leave a review.**

**Did you see what I did there as an homage to the story I took inspiration from? **


	10. A Quest for Percy

**Chapter 10**

**MOUNT OLYMPUS**

Artemis sat on the couch in her temple. She had been waiting for the right moment in order to claim Naruto as her son. She decided that today was the best time to do so.

She looked at the screen. She saw her son quickly dispatch a hellhound about to attack his friend. Though, she was disappointed that her son wasn't using a bow and arrow for himself.

On the screen, she saw that all the campers were staring at Naruto.

"Here goes nothing." She said to herself.

She closed her eyes focusing her energy on her son.

All around her, she felt spikes of energy coming towards her temple. The other gods have already learned of this. Definitely, they were coming over to ask her what happened.

The first to arrive was Apollo, her twin brother. He was screaming outside her temple, "LITTLE SIS! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!"

Next to arrive was Aphrodite. She was also screaming, "IT'S FINALLY HAPPENED! TELL MEEEE!"

One by one all the other gods began to arrive, even Hera, surprisingly. Now there was a commotion outside her temple. Artemis went out to meet them.

"I know, I know. I have a lot to explain, but there are a few others would want to hear this."

She snapped her fingers. In a flash of bright light, the Hunters of Artemis appeared in Olympus just outside her temple.

When the hunters came to, they realized that they were not in their camp anymore. They looked around and saw the gods, including their mistress present. As soon as they saw Artemis, they started to swarm her. They were yelling and protesting about what they just saw.

"Girls, enough." She said. "I will explain myself."

She took a deep breath before saying, "First of all, Aphrodite, it's not what you think."

Aphrodite groaned.

"As you are aware, there is a young boy from the Elemental Nations right now in Camp Half-Blood who I claimed as my son. As you know, I seldom visit this world to hunt some of their animals that are not even found in this world. In my first visit, I sensed these masses of energy in the form of huge creatures."

"The tailed beasts." Hermes said.

Artemis nodded.

"During one of my visits, I decided to see these animals for myself and hunt them down. I appeared in a forest near some high walls of a village. Surprisingly, I sensed one of those beasts inside the village, so I disguised myself as one of the maidens and entered the village. I tracked down the beast down in a house. I entered the house unnoticed, but I couldn't see the fox anywhere. All I could see were humans inside."

She paused for a bit.

"Oddly, though, I could sense the beast coming from the woman in the group. I sensed that there was a seal keeping the beast at bay. So, I decided to enter the seal myself. Once inside, I discovered that the beast inside the seal was a fox, a huge fox with nine tails."

Gasps were heard from the hunters.

"What I didn't expect as well was that the woman was carrying a child. The fox wasn't too happy about this. In fact, he was bitter for being sealed inside humans and used as a weapon. But that's not what I was explaining. Anyway, we had a chat, so I stayed there for quite a while. I didn't know that the fox, inside the seal, was influencing how the child would look like. During my time in the seal, my essence was transferred to the child, just like the fox."

"So, that's why–" Athena said.

"Yes, what he inherited from me is there, but it's subtle. I'm surprised you noticed. You won't even notice it if you don't pay close attention. So, in a way, you could say he's my child too."

"But, why is he here?" One of the hunters asked.

"Thirteen years later, I went back to the Elemental Nations to hunt again. I was following my prey through a forested area. I kept following it until it led me into a waterfall with two big statues on both sides. I could see that a big fight has recently occurred in the area. Below the cliff, I noticed an orange figure lying on the ground. I decided to investigate. At first, I was disappointed because the white figure I saw was a boy."

Groans could be heard from the hunters.

"I studied him before going to leave him there to die. I decided against that idea when I noticed subtle auburn streaks in his hair. There were whisker marks on his cheeks which reminded me of the fox I hunted in the past. When I knelt down to touch him, I felt my essence coursing through him. I sensed him as the same child that the woman I saw, all those years ago. Because of that, I decided to take him in."

"Won't they be looking for him?"

"I went back to the area where I found him and saw a man looking for him. I approached him and talked to him. I learned about his horrible past which explained the bitterness and resentment the boy was harbouring. We went back to the village and I talked to the village leader, who surprisingly was a woman. Basically, after some tests, they concluded that we were related, and they allowed him to come home with me after making necessary arrangements."

"And he's a Jinchuriki, right?" Athena asked.

Artemis nodded. "Father's going to be paranoid about him again."

"He's always like that." Hera said.

"But, little sis," Apollo said changing the subject. "You still didn't answer my question. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because, I know you would overreact like that as usual. "Artemis replied.

Ares also spoke up. "The little punk ain't bad. Could make a good challenge."

Artemis shot him a murderous look. "Don't you dare."

Aphrodite had scowl on her face. "I thought you took my advice about finding someone.

Artemis shook her head. "Never, Aphrodite, never. You know I have an oath."

Aphrodite's face lit up when an idea lit up in her mind. She squealed, "I'm going to give him a great love life."

She just looked at Aphrodite and sighed.

"_I knew it." _She thought.

She looked over to her Hunters. They were shuffling nervously at their seats clearly they didn't know how to take this all in.

"Girls," She said getting the girls' attention. "What do you feel about this?"

Zoe spoke up for the group. "My lady, we are relieved that you have still kept your oath. We really thought that you have broken your oath when you claimed him as your son. As for your son, he being a boy already puts him in a bad light. We just don't know. We have to meet him ourselves for us to judge him properly."

Artemis nodded accepting their answers.

"Do you all feel this way?" She asked.

The hunters nodded.

"I think this is much excitement for one day. I believe it's time for us to leave." Hera said. "We came here for an explanation and we were given one. Plus, after Poseidon's claiming, Zeus would probably be in a bad mood."

One by one the gods walked towards her and congratulated her before going out on their own ways. The last one to leave was Apollo and Hephaestus.

"I was not expecting for me to have a nephew from me sister, so I'll try to keep an eye on him." Apollo said before leaving.

"Thanks," Artemis replied.

Apollo patted her head treating her as his little sister much to Artemis' great dislike.

Hephaestus handed Artemis a ninja pouch similar to that of Naruto's.

"Here, I just finished your order. I believe I understand who it is for now." He said.

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

After that, Hephaestus made his way back to his forges.

Artemis turned to her hunters, "Thank you for understanding girls. I know this is all of a sudden for you."

One of the hunters spoke up, "Since he had inherited some parts of you, he may not be so bad." There were murmurs of agreement from the other hunters.

"Though he will have to prove himself to us." Zoe said.

"Thank you girls." She said gratefully. She then clicked her fingers and the hunters disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

**CAMP HALF-BLOOD **

Naruto sat on a bench in the centre of the cabins looking at his mother's cabin. Just a few minutes ago, Artemis claimed him as her son, though it is still unclear to him. Beside him was his best friend, Percy, who, just like him, was claimed by his father.

All around them, the campers were staring at them. They were staring at Naruto like he might be a mistake, even though Chiron already told them that the gods don't make mistakes when it comes to claiming. For Percy, many were shocked that Poseidon claimed him as a son. This meant that Poseidon has broken the pact between the big three. It definitely was a bad sign.

"So, I guess we aren't roommates anymore." Naruto said breaking the silence.

"I guess not." Percy replied.

Naruto looked at the campers who were staring at them. The last time he was stared at like this was when he was a little kid. Thankfully, these stares were not hateful stares, unlike the villagers of the Hidden Leaf. And unlike the last time, he was not alone.

Naruto continued to talk to his friend so he could try to ignore the stares. Taking in the moonlight that night definitely made him feel better.

Chiron trotted towards them.

"Those were some surprising claims. The whole camp has still been reeling from that. Now, though, we have to move you in to your parent's cabin." He said.

"Percy, you will go to Cabin Three." He said pointing towards the cabin that looked like it was made of sea rock.

He turned to Naruto, "And you Naruto, you will go to…Cabin Eight." He said hesitantly pointing to the cabin glowing in the moonlight.

"Now go get your things from Cabin Eleven."

Percy and Naruto went on their way. They didn't forget to thank Luke for helping them on their first days and for taking them in when they didn't know their godly parent yet. On their way back, Chiron pulled Naruto aside.

"We have a little problem about your cabin. The Hunters of Artemis come over once in a while, and they stay at the Cabin when they are here."

"Urm…" Naruto thought, "is there any chance that any of the cabins would take me in while I am here?"

"That should be acceptable; just make sure to ask permission from the head counsellor. It would be acceptable if you make an offering during meal times to the god's cabin you want to stay at."

Naruto nodded.

Chiron looked around and saw that the other campers were still outside their cabins and staring at them.

"Alright everyone," he said. "Go inside your cabins now. It is way past your curfew."

"Well, I guess I will see you in the morning Chiron."

Chiron smiled and trotted away.

Naruto looked at Percy and said. "Well I guess I will see you tomorrow too."

"I'm still bummed out that we aren't roommates anymore."

"Well it can't be helped.

Percy took a look at door for a while and entered.

"_I guess it's my turn." _Naruto thought as he stared at the doors of the glowing cabin.

Naruto thought that after Chiron ordered the campers to enter their cabins, they stopped staring at him. He noticed many campers were still looking out their windows to see if he would get vaporized or get turned into a jackalope.

He sighed.

Naruto, then, entered the cabin. The others watched with bated breath waiting for something to happen. A few seconds later, silence permeated through the night. Nothing happened. The campers then called it a night.

Inside the cabin, the first thing he noticed was the scent. He picked up the scent of the outdoors, just like the forests he loved to camp out in. It reminded him of the forests outside the leaf village. A smile crept up to his face.

He looked around. The walls were painted dark green with silver vine like designs going along the top and bottom of the walls. Painted along the walls were pictures of different animals from bears, deer, and wolves. Alongside the animals were the images of people wearing long hoods and cloaks and carrying bows and arrows.

He saw that there were around twenty beds that had silver duvets and pillows covering them. Beside each bed was a set of drawers where the hunters could leave their equipment.

"Where do I sleep?" He voiced out his thoughts. He definitely didn't want to sleep on the beds that a bunch of man-hating girls.

At the moment he spoke up, a bright light shone in the backside of the cabin. When the light died down, a door formed on the back wall.

"Woah," Naruto said. He went straight for the door and opened it. When the door was opened, it revealed a room.

The room contained a pair of cabinets on the left side of the room. Facing the cabinets, there was a big bed, more than big enough for him. Beside the bed, there was a night stand with drawers and a lamp on top of it. On top of the bed, there was a ninja pouch that looked like his own. On the bed's headboard, there was a note stuck on it just like when he first came into this world.

He went over and sat on the bed. He plucked the note from the head and read it.

_Dear Naruto,_

_I know you are surprised to find out that you are my son, but please know that despite my reputation, you are the exception. So do not think that I don't care about you._

_The main cabin is used by my hunters, so I had this part of the cabin specifically made for you. I know that if you stayed with my hunters, they would feel uncomfortable if they have to share with a boy. But, you have every right to stay in this cabin as my hunters. However, I have been told that your apartment back in the Elemental Nations has always been a disaster. I just want to remind you that you should keep this room tidy. There will be cabin inspections every afternoon._

_Anyways, I heard you got a Minotaur horn after your battle with the Minotaur. I have provided you with a cabinet for you to place your spoils of war. Treat it like a trophy case._

_Also, I heard that you don't feel like using a sword as your weapon. In the pouch, you will see kunai just like those you use back at home. The difference is that these kunai are made with a combination of chakra metal and celestial bronze. These kunai are enchanted to return to the pouch after a few seconds so you don't have to worry about running out. _

_Lastly, this is not the right time for us to meet. Just know that until the time we meet, look up to the sky at night. I will always be watching you under the shine of the moonlight._

_Love Mom._

_PS. Why don't you try using a bow and arrow? I am sure you have discovered that you have inherited marksmanship from me._

Naruto smiled. He looked up and saw the trophy case his mother was talking about. He saw the Minotaur horn already in there and a tooth lying beside it. He figured it came from the hellhound he fought a while back.

Beside the trophy case, there was a cabinet. Inside there was his old jumpsuit and a green flak jacket. There were also different clothes that hung beside it.

He smiled and wiped a stray tear formed in his eye.

Since he had been claimed, a voice was nagging him in his head. It had him thinking if his mother really wanted him since he knew his mother's reputation. But, seeing this, the nagging voice was silenced. He knows that his mother loves him.

Sitting on the bed, he let out a huge yawn. Definitely, the games he played today and the training he did in the morning were catching up to him. He was feeling tired.

He took a shower and went to bed with a big smile on his face.

* * *

**MOUNT OLYMPUS**

In the throne room, sitting on head of the Olympian thrones was a man wearing a dark blue pin-striped suit with long dark grey hair and electric blue eyes. This is Zeus, god of the sky and king of the Olympians.

He was definitely in a foul mood. He just learned that Poseidon too had broken his oath, and he was almost certain that the child has stolen his weapon. Also on his mind, there was Artemis' son. Despite the ancient laws, she still brought her son here into the world. Plus, he feared the beast that was sealed inside of him. He was paranoid that the boy with the help of the beast had enough power to challenge him.

He could have smitten the boy the moment he was here in this world. But, he didn't want to risk the beast rampaging in New York if he did. Also, he didn't want to anger his mother, Artemis.

Just then, another man entered the throne room. The man had black hair, a deep tan and sea green eyes. He was wearing Birkenstocks, khaki Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. This was Poseidon, god of the Sea.

The moment he entered, the tension in the air thickened. The two started arguing about Poseidon's son stealing Zeus' weapon. All around the world, thunderstorms, earthquake, and storms hit various countries answering to the anger of the two brothers.

* * *

**THE NEXT MORNING**

Naruto stretched as he exited the cabin. As usual, he woke up earlier than the other campers. Though he woke up so early, he still felt refreshed after having one of the best sleeps in his life. The bed his mother gave him was definitely very, very soft and comfy.

He went around camp for his usual jog.

Towards the end of his jog, just before breakfast, the other campers were already awake. As he was going for a shower, he noticed that many of the girls were staring at him with blushes on their faces.

"_This is going to take some getting used to."_ He thought.

After his shower, the conch horn blew right on schedule. Campers all around the camp made their way to the dining pavilion.

Naruto went to his new table. He will definitely have to get used to eating by himself. In the past few days, he had people eating with him at the Hermes table. Now, being the only son of Artemis, he was alone on the table.

After the usual offerings, everyone had a hearty meal. For Naruto, well, his appetite never failed to amuse the other campers. They watched as plate after plate stacked on his table. Despite being alone on the table, it looked like a whole cabin sat on the table after he finished.

After breakfast, he caught up to Percy.

"It's sad that we have to spend breakfast alone." Naruto said to his friend.

"Yeah, just when I thought I was fitting in." Percy replied with a sad look on his face.

Naruto understood his friend. The other campers were avoiding him now like he had some kind of disease. It reminded him of the villagers in the Hidden Leaf when he was young.

He patted his friend on the shoulder. "Cheer up, Perce. Think of it this way; at least you have a whole cabin to yourself."

Percy's face lit up. "Yeah, sleeping at night doesn't kill my back anymore."

Both of them laughed.

As the two walked, thunder boomed in the distance. Grover had told them that bad weather never found its way into camp, yet the clouds above camp darkened and the ocean was getting wild, with the waves reaching meters high.

The duo was looking up at the sky when their satyr friend made his way over to them.

"Hey Perce!" Grover called out. "Mr. D wants to see you."

"Why?" Percy asked.

"He wants to kill... I mean, I'd better let him tell you." Grover replied.

Naruto did a double take on what Grover told Percy. "Wait, did you say kill?"

"N-no." Grover stuttered.

Grover's expression told him that he was hiding something.

"If Percy is in trouble in any way, I'm coming too." Naruto offered.

"Y-you can't. Mr. D specifically asked to bring Percy only."

"Oh." Naruto said. "Oh well. I guess I'll see you later, Perce."

Grover then left with Percy leaving Naruto alone.

* * *

**A FEW MINUTES LATER**

Naruto was sitting on a bench near the cabins. It started to rain. The rain clouds looming over the camp didn't pass around as Grover had said.

He sat there thinking. The satyr's words didn't leave his mind.

"_He wants to kill…I mean, I'd better let him tell you." _ Grover's words were spoken in his mind.

He was worried that his friend might be in some kind of trouble with Mr. D. He was told about the pact of the Big Three after World War II. He was not supposed to be born. He thought that Mr. D was calling him because of this. This made him curious.

A grin made its way into his face.

"_I will find out what is going on." _He thought.

He stood up and made his way to the Big House.

When he got to the Big House, he noticed that Percy and Mr. D were not there anymore. Only Chiron and Grover were visible in the area sitting on his fake wheel chair cards in hand and chewing coke cans respectively. Visible is the operative word here. He sensed someone else was in the area, only he couldn't see where he or she was.

He tried to pinpoint where this other person was. When he was almost certain where he or she was, he put up an illusion and went in. As fast as he got in, he got out just as quick.

Struggling in his arms was an invisible human shaped mass he couldn't see but could hear and feel.

"Shhh," He said in a whisper. "You don't want us to be found out, do you?"

The invisible form in his arms stopped struggling and took of something on its head.

"How did you know I was there?" The form who was revealed to be Annabeth asked, also in a hushed tone.

"Oh hey Annabeth." He greeted first. "I sensed you skulking around the area."

Annabeth frowned.

"So, what are you doing there, Annie?"

"Just the same as you," Annabeth whispered. "And, don't call me Annie."

"Whatever you say, Annie."

Annabeth growled at Naruto.

"So, where's Percy?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, he went up to the Oracle to get a prophecy for his quest."

"What?! He asked a bit loudly but still made sure both of them weren't heard. "He couldn't even defend himself here at camp."

"Wow, way to have confidence on your best friend." Annabeth commented.

"I'm just worried about him." He said. "So, what's it about?"

"Uhm, basically, Zeus is missing his master bolt, his symbol of power, and he's blaming Percy for it."

Naruto remembered the stories about Zeus' weapon, the first weapon made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans. He remembered that Zeus used it to sheer the top off Mount Etna and hurl Kronos from his throne.

Naruto sighed. "Let me guess; Zeus is paranoid that his brother, Percy's dad, is plotting to overthrow him. And, he's blaming Percy even though we were together all this time and we have never been to Olympus."

"Pretty much." Annabeth shrugged.

"Why am I not surprised?" Naruto sighed again. "Was there even a time when these two were not fighting?"

Annabeth just nodded.

Just then, they heard footsteps approaching the area.

It was Percy. He had just finished his audience with the oracle. He sat down on his chair by the Pinochle table and slumped.

Grover had his fingers crossed like he was wishing for something to happen.

Chiron asked. "Well?"

"Uhm… She said…"

**TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the cliff hanger. The quest is going to be started in the next chapter and I didn't want to stuff this chapter. **

**Shout out to DarkShadowRaven. Thanks for the idea on Artemis' explanation to the other gods.**

**Thanks for the response this story is getting. Don't forget to read and review. Sorry if I took longer than I usually take to produce a chapter. I was having writer's block. **

**Till next time**


	11. Percy Jackson's Day Out

**Chapter 11**

**A FEW MINUTES EARLIER, THE BIG HOUSE ATTIC**

Percy thought that seeing his best friend be half goat was the weirdest thing he had so far. Damn was he wrong.

When he accepted the quest, Chiron told him it's his time to visit the Oracle. He told him to go up to the attic. For a moment, he felt a little fear. He remembered that apparition he saw looking at him in his first day at camp.

'_Assuming you are still sane,"_ Chiron's words rang in his head.

He was in the attic. All around him, there were stuff that he described as Greek Hero junk stored there. In the other corner of the room, he saw the thing he thought he saw as an apparition in his first day awake at camp. Getting up from its stool was a mummy. There was green mist coming out from its mouth in the form of tendrils sending chills up his spine.

The mummy was not wrapped in bandages as pop culture has popularized. It was a shrivelled human female body. She was wearing a tie-dyed sundress, with lots of beaded necklaces, and a headband over long black hair. Her face was thin and leathery over her skull, and her eyes were glassy white slits, as if the real eyes had been replaced by marbles. In short, she'd been dead a long, long time.

He shook himself back to reality when he heard the mummy spoke.

"I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask." The Oracle spoke in his head.

Fear coursed through his body. His instincts were telling him to answer, 'No thanks, wrong door, just looking for the bathroom.'

But, he gathered his courage and asked. "What is my destiny?"

The green mist around the oracle swirled more thickly and changes into Gabe and his drinking buddies. The Oracle used everyone present in the image to say:

"_You shall go west, and face the god who has turned._

_You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned._

_You shall he betrayed by one who calls you a friend._

_And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end."_

* * *

**PRESENT**

Percy slumped on his chair at the Pinochle Table after he got down from the attic.

"Well?" Chiron asked.

Percy recounted the lines of the prophecy as stated to him by the Oracle. Though, he left out the last line of the prophecy fearing what it might pertain to.

"Anything else?" Chiron asked clearly unsatisfied.

"No, That's about it." Percy lied.

Naruto, who was hiding near the area with Annabeth, rolled his eyes.

"He's definitely lying." Naruto whispered to Annabeth.

Annabeth just shook her head. "He left out the last line."

Chiron studied Percy's face. "Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."

"Okay," Percy said, anxious to change topics. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the west?"

"Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"

"Somebody else who wants to take over?" I guessed.

Naruto face palmed and whispered loud enough for only Annabeth to hear. "It looks like he doesn't listen to your lectures or maybe he doesn't know anything of Greek Mythology at all."

"He's a seaweed brain." Annabeth commented.

Naruto thought back to Mrs. Dodds. She was definitely looking for something, but she was asking Percy. Then, there was this Hellhound who was somehow summoned from right inside camp.

"It couldn't be a coincidence. Mrs. Dodds and the Hellhound attacking Percy." He muttered.

Naruto listened back to the conversation.

" –Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt and reveal the truth."

At the mention of the Underworld, one thing hit Naruto and Percy's mind.

"_Aunt Sally/Mom," _They thought.

Naruto saw a chance for him to redeem himself. He failed to protect Sally when they were attacked by the Minotaur. By one way or another, he saw this as his way to get him back whatever it takes even to fight Hades.

He took a look back towards them.

Percy looked like he was planning to do something stupid. He couldn't blame him. He knew Percy hasn't gotten over the loss of his mom yet. Grover, well, he started trembling and eating the Pinochle cards like potato chips.

Percy spoke up. "Look, if we know it's Hades, why can't we just tell the other gods? Zeus or Poseidon could go down to the Underworld and bust some heads."

"Suspecting and knowing are not the same," Chiron said. "Besides, even if the other gods suspect Hades and I imagine Poseidon does, they couldn't retrieve the bolt themselves. Gods cannot cross each other's territories except by invitation. That is another ancient rule. Heroes, on the other hand, have certain privileges. They can go anywhere; challenge anyone, as long as they're bold enough and strong enough to do it. No god can be held responsible for a hero's actions. Why do you think the gods always operate through humans?"

"You're saying I'm being used." Percy answered.

"I'm saying it's no accident Poseidon has claimed you now. It's a very risky gamble, but he's in a desperate situation. He needs you." Chiron corrected.

Naruto turned to Annabeth, "Hey Annabeth, why were you still hoping that Percy was a Son of Zeus after the bathroom incident."

"S-shut up." Annabeth answered. "It was wishful thinking, okay?"

"I was always with him back at Yancy, and it was always the water that answers to him."

"Was he a seaweed brain even back then?"

Naruto chuckled softly. "Yep, he always tends to get into trouble."

Annabeth let out a muffled laugh. "I think by definition, we demigods are magnets to trouble."

"I guess you're right."

Both of them turned back to Chiron, Percy and Grover's conversation.

Annabeth perked up when she heard Percy say, "Gee! Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this?"

Annabeth jumped out of their hiding spot and ran to the three which startled Grover who was already jumpy.

"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain," she said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."

Naruto sighed and walked out of his hiding place.

"Hold it!" Naruto said

Chiron, Percy and Grover's widened their eyes in surprise.

It was Percy who voiced out. "Naruto, where were you…"

"In plain sight. It's a ninja trick. Plus, I caught Annabeth here skulking around, so I wasn't alone" Naruto said."

Annabeth blushed when Naruto said that last part.

"S-shut up!" She blurted out. "I HAD to be a part of it."

"Chiron, they're going to need all the help they can get." Naruto told Chiron. "Someone has to keep Percy from causing trouble."

"Hey!" Percy protested.

"Naruto, I understand your concern for Percy, but…" Chiron said.

Naruto insisted. "But Chiron, they're new to this. Even genin in the Elemental Nations don't go out on missions like this."

Chiron sighed. "Very well, Naruto.

"This afternoon, we will take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own." He explained to the whole group.

Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather.

"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."

* * *

**LATER THAT DAY**

After their meeting at the Big House, the questers went on their separate ways to pack. Although, Naruto and Percy had a problem since they lost their luggage in the attack of the Minotaur. Fortunately, Grover found them backpacks.

Naruto sat in his room. He packed in the clothes his mother had given him the night before. It didn't take it long to pack. He already knew what to get since he has been through this to countless times to before. As he was finishing, he saw his green flak jacket hanging on the leftmost side of the closet.

He stared at the green flak jacket he got after the Old Man Hokage died. He remembered the friends he left in the Hidden Leaf. He remembered the missions he had especially with the ones with team seven. Then, he remembered Sasuke. He had promised Sakura to save him from the darkness, but right now he didn't know if he would be able to do it.

"_One thing at a time I guess."_

He shook himself out of his melancholy. _"Oh yeah, I got a mission. I have to get it together."_

Eventually, he plucked the flak jacket from his closet, put it on and went out.

Naruto met up with his team mates at the camp store to get the supplies they would need. He was supposed to get some mortal money from the store, but he had some money left from what his mother has been giving him. However, he still got some golden drachmas for 'non-mortal transactions' as Chiron had put it. Finally, he got some ambrosia and nectar for emergency purposes.

After that, they waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree.

Chiron was waiting for them in his wheelchair. Next to him, there was a man who you could only describe as a surfer. He was wearing a chauffeur's uniform. According to Grover, the guy was the camp's head of security. Supposedly, he had eyes all over his body. His attire today covered his extra eyes, so those only on his hands, face and neck were seen.

"This is Argus," Chiron introduced. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

"That was a horrible pun, Chiron." Naruto commented.

Chiron shrugged. "It was worth a try."

Just then footsteps were heard approaching them. It was Luke who came running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes.

"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you."

Annabeth hid behind Naruto.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke told me. "And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these."

He handed Percy a pair of normal looking basketball shoes. Well, they thought it was normal, until Luke shouted, "Maia!"

White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling Percy so much, that he dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.

"Awesome!" Grover said.

"Cool!" Naruto chimed in. "They remind me of the sandals your dad wears in the pictures."

"Yeah, they're a gift of dad." Luke explained. "They served me well when I was on a quest."

His expression turned sad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..."

Percy was speechless. Not only did Luke come and say goodbye to him and the group, but he also came and gave him a magic item."

"Hey, man," Percy said. "Thanks."

"Listen, Percy ..." Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just ... kill some monsters for me, okay?"

He turned to Naruto, "And Naruto…Keep an eye on Percy for me, will ya?"

He shook Naruto and Percy's hands. He patted Grover's head between his horns, and then called out to Annabeth, to come out from hiding to give her a hug. She looked like she might pass out.

After Luke was gone, Percy commented, "You're hyperventilating."

"Am not." Annabeth protested.

Percy realized something. "You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"

That definitely pulled a string.

"Oh ... why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?" She said as she stomped down other side of the hill, where a white SUV waited on the shoulder of the road.

Argus followed, jingling his car keys.

Percy picked up the flying shoes and had a sudden bad feeling. He looked at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these, will I?"

"Not unless you want to be deep fried by the Lord of the Sky." Naruto told his friend.

Percy looked at his friend with a frown on his face.

"What? Just saying." Naruto said.

Chiron shook his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air... that would not be wise for you."

Percy nodded, clearly disappointed, but then he got an idea. "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"

His eyes lit up. "Me?"

Pretty soon, Naruto and Percy had laced the sneakers over Grover's fake feet.

"Maia!" he shouted.

He got off the ground okay, but then fell over sideways so his backpack dragged through the grass. The winged shoes kept bucking up and down like tiny broncos.

"Practice," Chiron called after him. "You just need practice!"

"Aaaaa!" Grover went flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawn mower, heading toward the van.

Before the boys could follow, Chiron caught Percy arm causing both of them to stop. "I should have trained you better, Percy," he said. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason-they all got more training."

"That's okay Chiron," Naruto said. "That's why I'm here."

Percy looked bummed out. Though, it was not about the lack of training. He envied Annabeth and Luke for receiving items from their godly parents.

"I just wish–"

Percy stopped himself. He didn't want to sound like a spoiled brat.

"What am I thinking?" Chiron cried. "I can't let you get away without this."

"Naruto, you too." He added.

He pulled pens from his coat pocket and handed them to the two boys. They were ordinary disposable ballpoint pens with black ink. One had a removable cap. The other had a button to press to reveal the ball point.

"Gee," Percy said. "Thanks."

"These look like the pens from the Museum, Chiron."

Chiron nodded. "Nice of you to notice, my boy"

He first turned to Percy. "Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one."

"_Could this be?" _He thought.

He took off the cap, and the pen grew longer and heavier in his hand. In half a second, he was holding the same bronze sword he held in the Museum. Of all the swords in camp, it was the first weapon that actually felt balanced in his hand.

"The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron told me. "Its name is Anaklusmos."

"'Riptide,'" Percy translated as he studied his blade.

Chiron nodded then turned to Naruto. "Naruto, that's a gift from your mother. You can imagine my surprise when I received them. I only know they were made for you. I was also told that there was a mix of chakra metal on the blade."

The blonde pressed the button at the end of the pen. The pen elongated in his hand. The pen, then, became the same kunai he used to kill the Fury.

Naruto examined the blade. He noticed there were markings on the hilt.

"Those markings…" Chiron said. "I don't understand them. They are definitely not Greek."

"They are seals." Naruto said. "Unfortunately, I don't know what they are for."

"You will find out someday." Chiron said.

"Use them only for emergencies," Chiron said, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but Percy's sword wouldn't harm them. In your case, Naruto, the chakra metal on the blade would still injure them."

"What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?" Percy asked.

"Your blades are made of celestial bronze. The metal is forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. By itself, it's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill. And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable." Chiron explained.

"That sucks." Naruto complained.

"Good to know." Percy said.

"Percy, recap the pen. Naruto squeeze the hilt."

The boys did as they were told, and the blades returned to their original pen forms. After that, Percy kept his pen in his pocket while Naruto stowed his pen away in his pouch.

Percy looked nervous.

"You better not lose that magic item Percy. Your pens back at Yancy never lasted more than two days." Naruto joked.

"S-shut up, fishcake." Percy teased to try to get back at the blonde.

"Actually you can't" Chiron said.

"What?" Percy and Naruto asked.

"You can't lose the pen," Chiron explained. "It is enchanted. It will always reappear in your pocket. Try it."

Percy was unsure, but he threw his pen away anyway and watched it disappear in the grass.

"It may take a few moments," Chiron told Percy. "Now check your pocket."

He patted his pocket. His expression lightened when he felt the pen in his pocket.

"Awesome!" Naruto praised.

"Okay, that's extremely cool," Percy admitted. "But what if a mortal sees me pulling out a sword?"

"Mist, Percy." Naruto said.

"Mist?" Percy asked.

"Yes, Percy. You should read Homer's Iliad. It mentioned the stuff a lot."

Chiron nodded. "Whenever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go to fit things into their version of reality."

Percy felt he was ready for his quest, but he had one last question. He asked about the immortality of the gods and the times before their rule. Naruto and Chiron narrated the stories from the books explaining his questions. They also gave some advice to Percy for his quest.

After their conversation, the boys made their way to SUV. Chiron raised his bow in salute to send off the quest-goers.

* * *

**MANHATTAN**

Ten miles of driving passed and they made it to the highway. Along the way, Percy made a comment about not having any monster attacks so far. This, of course, prompted an argument from the two which escalated to an argument about their godly parents.

In the front seat, Argus smiled. He didn't say anything, but one blue eye on the back of his neck winked.

By the time they got to Queens, traffic slowed them down. At sunset, they made it to Manhattan, but it started to rain.

Argus dropped them down at the Greyhound station on the Upper East Side, not far from Sally and Gabe's apartment. Something caught Naruto and Percy's eyes. Taped to a mailbox was a soggy flyer with both of their pictures on it: HAVE YOU SEEN THESE BOYS?

Percy and Naruto looked at each other with wide eyes. They seemed to be thinking of the same thing. "_Oh shit!"_

Before any of their companions could see, Naruto ripped the flyer and burned with a simple fire jutsu.

Argus unloaded their bags, made sure they got our bus tickets, and then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch them as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Percy was looking at their old apartment's direction. Grover caught him doing this, so he asked, "You want to know why she married him, Percy?"

Percy stared at him. "Were you reading my mind or something?"

"Just your emotions." He shrugged. "Guess I forgot to tell you satyrs can do that."

"About Percy, it has something to do with Percy's heritage, huh?" Naruto asked hearing Grover's earlier question.

"Your mom married Gabe for you," Grover told Percy. "You guys call him 'Smelly,' but you've got no idea. The guy has this aura... Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven't been near him for a week."

"Thanks," Percy said. "Where's the nearest shower?"

"I doubt the shower would work." Naruto chuckled drily.

"You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady. She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy if that makes you feel any better."

"She's just plain awesome." Naruto added.

The rain kept coming down as the demigods were talking. Eventually, they got restless, so they decided to play Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. Naruto got hungry, so he went to the nearest convenience store to get something to eat.

Inside the store, Naruto got some food for his friends. As he was about to pay, he saw something that made him break into a mischievous grin. He added it to the stuff he bought and went to pay.

"_So, how do I send this?" _He thought.

Naruto got back to his friends as soon as the game ended. Percy tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappeared, core, stem, and all.

Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but his friends were too busy cracking up. Naruto even blew out the soda in his mouth when he saw what Grover did.

Finally the bus came. As the group stood in line to board, Grover started looking around, sniffing the air like he smelled his favorite school cafeteria delicacy, enchiladas.

"What is it?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."

Naruto sniffed the air too. "Kinda smells like Mrs. Dodds or something."

When Percy heard this, he started looking over his shoulder as well paranoid of what might come. Plus, he wasn't too keen on meeting his old Math Teacher again.

After a few minutes of waiting in line, they finally got on board the bus, and found seats at the back of the bus. Everyone stowed their bags, except for Naruto. After the incident with the Minotaur, he wasn't taking any chances. This time, even Annabeth got nervous as well. She was repeatedly slapping her New York Yankees cap on her knee.

As the last passengers got on, Annabeth squeezed Naruto's hand. "Uh, Naruto."

An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered.

It was Mrs. Dodds. Older, more withered, but definitely the same evil face.

Percy scrunched down in his seat.

Behind her came two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat. Otherwise they looked exactly like Mrs. Dodds-same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dresses. Triplet demon grandmothers.

"You had to Jinx it, huh Percy?" Naruto complained.

Grover looked like he was about to faint when he saw them board the bus.

They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. It was casual enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.

"Looks like your Math Teacher is back." Annabeth said.

The bus pulled out of the station, and headed through the slick streets of Manhattan. "She didn't stay dead long," Percy said, trying to keep his voice from quivering. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."

"I said if you're lucky," Annabeth said. "You're obviously not."

"All three of them," Grover managed to whimpered. "Di immortales!"

"It's okay," Annabeth said, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."

"Easier said than done." Naruto said. "Plus, they won't open."

"A back exit?" she suggested.

"There isn't one." Grover shook his head.

By that time, the bus was on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.

"They won't attack us with witnesses around, will they?" Percy asked hopefully

"Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth reminded him. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."

"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?" Percy said mournfully.

Annabeth thought about it. "Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof...?"

The bus hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and it went dark except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.

Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the rest-room."

"So do I," said the second sister.

"So do I," said the third sister.

They all started coming down the aisle.

"Heads up!" Naruto warned. "Here they come."

* * *

**A/N: I actually thought I finished the story yesterday. Then, my laptop had to go and mess up. Well, at least I finished the chapter today. Thanks for reading. Don't forget to read and review.**


	12. Running into trouble

**Chapter 12**

"_I didn't ask for this. Why is it like my fault?" _Percy thought as he watched three old ladies who looked like Mrs. Dodds made their way down the aisle of the bus. Clearly they were after him.

He and Annabeth had argued in the car about the bad luck of talking about 'no monsters attacking' during a mission. It made him rethink everything. _"Was it really my fault?"_

He was broken out of his thoughts when Naruto spoke up.

"Heads up." Naruto said softly. "Here they come."

The bus was completely silent as the bus drove through the Lincoln Tunnel.

"I've got it," Annabeth exclaimed as she thought of an idea. "Percy, take my hat."

"What?" Percy asked.

"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away." Annabeth explained.

"But you guys–" Percy protested. He really didn't want to leave his friends behind.

"There's an outside chance they might not notice us," Annabeth said. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."

Naruto studied his friend. His friend clearly didn't want to go with this plan. "Hold it. He won't go with the plan, not when our lives are in danger."

"We don't have–" Annabeth tried to argue.

"I know Annabeth, but we have to do it this way, so Percy would go with it."

Naruto quickly explained what he had in mind to the group. This time Percy was more willing to go with it.

"You got this," Grover said. "Go!"

Percy's hands trembled as he took the cap from Annabeth. He put it on. As soon as the cap was on his head, he disappeared from view and made his way to the front of the bus.

Naruto and his two other companions watched as the old woman who they knew as Mrs. Dodds stopped walking and sniffed the air. She looked at an empty seat like she sensed something there.

"Oh no." Annabeth said with a worried tone. "She can still sense him."

Naruto placed his hand on top of Annabeth's. It was a silent message that everything would be okay.

Mrs. Dodds shrugged it off and continued walking to Naruto and his friends. This time, they began to slowly change into their true forms. Their faces were still the same but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips.

The Furies surrounded the three, lashing their whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"

The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats.

"He's not here!" Annabeth yelled. "He's gone!"

"Y-yeah!" Grover said trying to act brave.

"You don't want any trouble." Naruto threatened.

Annabeth drew her bronze knife. Naruto pulled out a kunai from the pouch on his leg. Grover grabbed a tin can from his snack bag and prepared to throw it.

The furies were about to lunge, when the bus swerved causing the three Furies to smack into the side of the bus along with the other passengers.

"Hey!" the driver yelled. "Hey! whoa!"

The driver was wrestling an unseen force for control of the steering wheel. The bus slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, and throwing sparks a mile behind them.

The vehicle careened out of the Lincoln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins.

Somehow, the driver found an exit. They shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barrelling down one of those New Jersey rural roads. On the left, there were woods. On the right was the Hudson River. The driver seemed to be veering toward the river.

Percy was at the driver's seat, still unseen by the passengers on the bus. Percy pulled the emergency brake, and the bus wailed and spun in a full circle, then crashed into the trees. Emergency lights from the bus flashed on, and the door flew open. The driver and the passengers were all scared now. The driver was the first one to run out of the bus, followed by the passengers,. Percy had to step into the driver's seat, so he won't be run over.

Unfortunately for our heroes, the furies were already beginning to regain their balance. Before anyone could react, Naruto lunged at the furies and plunged his kunai on the fury who they knew as Mrs. Dodds. The monster exploded into golden dust.

The two remaining furies saw what happened and they snarled. They were eyeing Naruto preparing to attack him for what he did to their sister. They must have realized that attacking the blonde was unwise. Instead, they turned around to face Grover and Annabeth brandishing their whips ready to attack.

Just then, Percy took off Annabeth's invisibility cap and yelled, "Hey!"

That got the Furies' attention. The monsters turned, baring their yellow fangs at Percy. They stalked up the aisle flicking her whip. Every time she did, red flames danced along the barbed leather.

"Perseus Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."

"I liked you better as a math teacher," Percy retorted.

She growled.

Annabeth and Grover moved up behind the Furies cautiously, looking for an opening.

Percy took the ballpoint pen out of his pocket and uncapped it. Riptide elongated into a shimmering double-edged sword.

The Furies hesitated.

"Submit now," one of the furies hissed. "And you will not suffer eternal torment."

"Nice try," Percy told her.

The other fury raised her whip and lashed it towards Percy's sword hand. Her companion dove at Percy.

Percy yelled in pain. He felt like his hand was wrapped in molten lead, but he managed not to drop his sword. "Ow!" he yelled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!

Naruto kicked the lunging fury towards Annabeth and Grover.

"Take care of her!" He yelled.

Annabeth jumped on the Fury's back. The fury kicked, clawed, hissed and bit trying to shake her off, but she held on, though she dropped her dagger. Grover was in the corner of the bus chucking tin cans at the Fury she was riding. Some of the cans were occasionally hitting Annabeth slowly getting on her nerve.

Annabeth smacked the fury on the head, and then yelled, "Grover! My knife!"

"G-got it!" Grover said shaking the fear out of his system.

Grover dropped down to the ground trying to find the knife. He tried looking under the chairs under some of the rubble. He found it.

"A-Annabeth, I found it!" Grover yelled.

"Throw it!" She yelled back.

Grover threw the knife towards Annabeth. The younger blonde smacked the fury again and caught the knife plunging it on its neck. The fury exploded into golden dust.

On Naruto and Percy's end, the blonde sliced through the whip tying up Percy's hand. Percy reeled for a moment nursing his hand.

The Fury growled.

"Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your soul!"

"Braccas meas vescimini!" Percy yelled.

Naruto understood this somehow. He tried so hard to stifle his laughter, but failed miserably. "What the hell was that, Percy?"

Percy's face reddened. "Shut up! That came out wrong."

Seeing this as an opening, the Fury attacked Percy.

Naruto expression changed when he saw this, but immediately changed again when he saw him handling the situation.

Fortunately, Percy managed to side step and smacked the Fury with the hilt of his sword. Percy charged the monster giving it no time to recover. Before the fury could get up, Percy swung his sword, and it exploded into golden dust like a piñata killing the last monster.

The group got to celebrate their victory and check each other for injuries.

"I see you guys were trained well at camp." Naruto said.

"Well, our teachers back at camp are awesome." Annabeth said.

Grover put his head down.

Naruto saw this and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay Grover. Fear gets the best of us, even me."

Grover looked up. "Even you? How?"

Naruto's story and their celebrations were cut short when the bus was shaken by thunder.

"Uh oh." Percy said. "That's not good."

"Get out!" Annabeth yelled. "Now!"

The group rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles yelling, "We're going to die!" A Hawaiian-shirted tourist with a camera snapped Percy'and Naruto's photograph.

"Our bags!" Grover realized. "We left our-"

BOOOOOM!

The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof.

"This is not good. The authorities will arrive anytime soon." Annabeth said.

The others nodded, and they plunged into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus in flames behind them, and nothing but darkness ahead.

* * *

Entering the forest gave Naruto some relief. He was in his mother's element making feel right at home.

Our group of demigods were walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind them, and the smell of the Hudson reeking in their noses.

All along the way, Grover was shivering and braying from fear. He kept muttering to himself, "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."

Annabeth kept pulling them along, "Come on! The farther away we get the better."

They trudged through the forest across muddy ground. They were still in shock about the lightning striking the bus. The sound still ringed in their ears.

Percy said breaking the occasional silence, "All our money was back there. Our food and clothes. Everything. What do we do now?"

"Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight-" Annabeth argued but Percy didn't let her finish.

"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"

"You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I know how to protect myself. Plus, if anything went wrong, Naruto was there with us."

"You sound like an old married couple." Grover commented.

"SHUT UP GOAT BOY! WE DO NOT!" Annabeth and Percy yelled not liking what Grover said.

"Come on guys, arguing won't get us anywhere." Naruto said breaking up the argument.

Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans ... a perfectly good bag of tin cans."

The rain turned the soil at their feet muddy. They sloshed through the muddy ground through nasty trees that smelled like sour laundry. Grover even had to remove his fake feet and carry them the whole way since they kept getting stuck to the mud.

After a few minutes, a smile made its way to Naruto's lips when he saw Annabeth fall into line next to Percy. "Look, I..." Her voice faltered. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave."

"We're a team, right?"

She was silent for a few more steps. "It's just that if you died ... aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world."

The thunderstorm had finally let up. The glow of the city behind them, leaving them in almost total darkness.

"You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?" Percy asked.

"No ... only short field trips. My dad-"

"The history professor."

"Yeah. It didn't work out for me living at home. I mean, Camp Half-Blood is my home." She was rushing her words out now, as if she were afraid somebody might try to stop her. "At camp you train and train. And that's all cool and everything, but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not."

Naruto who was listening to their conversation commented, "You're pretty good with that knife."

"Really? You think so?" Annabeth said her eyes lightening up after hearing Naruto praise her.

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me."

Annabeth was smiling now. Getting compliments from her friends definitely made her day.

"You know," she said, "maybe I should tell you ... Something funny back on the bus ..."

Whatever she wanted to say was interrupted by a shrill toot-toot-toot, like the sound of an owl being tortured.

"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get out of these woods!"

He puffed out a few notes, but the tune still sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff.

Instead of finding a path, Percy immediately slammed into a tree and got a nice-size knot on his head. Naruto laughed at the expense of his friend.

After tripping and cursing and generally feeling miserable (mostly for Percy) for another mile or so, the group started to see light up ahead: the colours of a neon sign. They could even smell food, fried, greasy, excellent food. A grumbling sound was heard.

Percy let out a laugh of embarrassment.

"Man, I sure could use a cheeseburger." Percy said.

His friends laughed at him. Then, another grumbling sound came from the rest of the group which prompted everyone to laugh all together.

"I guess we all need a cheeseburger. Though I prefer ramen, I'll take whatever I can." Naruto commented.

"I wish they have other food other than cheeseburgers." Grover said.

"Let's see." Annabeth said.

They kept walking until they found themselves at a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1990s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the good smell of fat and greasy food.

Unfortunately, the building they saw was not a fast food restaurant as they had hoped. Instead, they came across one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was impossible for the demigods to read.

To them, it read as 'ATNYU MES GDERAN GOMEN MEPROUIM.'

"What the heck does that say?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," Annabeth said.

Grover translated: "AUNTY EM'S GARDEN GNOME EMPORIUM."

Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly bearded little runts, smiling and waving, as if they were about to get their picture taken.

"I got a bad feeling about this." Naruto said.

Percy crossed the street, following the smell of the hamburgers which got stronger when they got to the road.

"Hey ..." Grover warned.

"Uhh Percy, where are you going?" Naruto asked.

"The lights are on inside," Annabeth said. "Maybe it's open."

"Snack bar," Percy said wistfully.

"Snack bar," Annabeth agreed.

"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird."

"Not you too Annabeth." Naruto complained. "For Percy, I'm not surprised, but you…"

Grover trotted along to follow the two who went ahead leaving Naruto at the other side of the road.

Naruto's stomach grumbled.

He sighed, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try."

He went on to follow his team mates ignoring the nagging feeling telling him not to go because he too was hungry.

The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps.

"Bla-ha-ha!" he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!"

They stopped at the warehouse door.

"Don't knock," Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."

"Your nose is clogged up from the Furies," Annabeth told him. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"

"Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian."

"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," Percy reminded him.

"Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are ... looking at me."

Naruto sniffed the air as well, "Why does it smell like the reptile section of the zoo?"

"Nonsense," Percy said. "It's just burgers in there."

The two younger demigods ignored Grover's plea. Naruto, once again, shrugged it off. Clearly, his hunger was clouding his normally on point judgement.

"Why?" Grover complained. "Even Naruto is…"

They were about knock when the door creaked open, and standing in front of the group was what they assumed was a tall Middle Eastern woman. She wore a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely veiled. Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze. Her coffee-coloured hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant. She might have been a grandmother who had once been a beautiful lady in her younger years.

Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Eastern, too. She said, "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"

"They're ... um ..." Annabeth started to say.

"We're orphans," Percy managed to blurt out.

"Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!"

"We got separated from our caravan," Percy said. "Our circus caravan. The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if we got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?"

Annabeth looked at Naruto. Clearly, she was not happy at Percy's alibi. Naruto just mouthed, 'Just go with it," as he held his growling stomach. Annabeth just face palmed.

"Oh, my dears," the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse, please. There is a dining area."

The four thanked her and went inside.

Annabeth walked beside Percy and muttered, "Circus caravan? Seriously?"

"Always have a strategy, right?" Percy said.

She rolled her eyes at Percy, "Your head is full of kelp."

The warehouse was filled with more statues, people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces. Some of the statues had a scared look on their faces, which was off putting to the group to say the least.

But, those statues were the least of the demigods' worries. All they were thinking now was the hunger they were feeling. Only Grover was not mesmerized by the smell of the food because he didn't eat meat. Instead, he was whimpering to himself, clearly scared.

Eventually, they made it to the back of the warehouse which housed a fast-food counter with a grill, a soda fountain, a pretzel heater, and a nacho cheese dispenser. Everything you could want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front.

"Please, sit down," Aunty Em said.

"Awesome," Percy said.

"Um," Grover said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am."

Before Percy could jab him in the ribs, Aunty Em said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."

Naruto's stomach seemed to growl even louder. "Hehe, sorry. He said."

Aunty Em smiled, "You stay put, children. This will only take a while."

"Thank you, ma'am," Annabeth said.

Aunty Em stiffened, as if Annabeth had done something wrong, but then the old woman relaxed just as quickly.

"Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child."

Aunty Em disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before the group of demigods knew it, she'd brought them plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries.

Percy was halfway through his burger before he remembered to breathe.

Naruto was just finishing his second burger and about to start on his third burger while eating his fries three at a time.

Annabeth slurped her shake.

Grover picked at the fries, and eyed the tray's waxed paper liner as if he might go for that too, but he still looked too nervous to eat.

Just then, Naruto and Grover looked at each other when their ears picked up on a sound they weren't expecting to hear. "What's that hissing noise?" It was Grover who asked.

Percy tried to listen in to what Grover was talking about, but to no avail. Annabeth just shook her head.

"Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."

"I take vitamins for my ears."

"That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax."

Naruto was halfway through his third burger when he realized that first, Aunty Em somehow knew Annabeth's and Grover's names and secondly, he never saw her remove her headdress ever since, even when she was cooking. He also noticed that she was watching them eat with her fingers interlaced. It definitely unnerved him. So, to decrease his uncomfortable feeling of being watched, he tried to make small talk.

"So, you sell gnomes?" Naruto said, trying to sound interested.

"Oh, yes," Aunty Em said. "And animals. And people. Anything for the garden. Custom orders. Statuary is very popular, you know."

"A lot of business on this road?"

"Not so much, no. Since the highway was built... most cars, they do not go this way now. I must cherish every customer I get."

Percy's expression changed. He was having an unsettling feeling that someone was watching him.

He turned. Instead of seeing someone watching, he saw a statue of a young girl holding an Easter basket. The detail was incredible, much better than you see in most garden statues. But something was wrong with her face. It looked as if she were startled or even terrified.

"Ah," Aunty Em said sadly. "You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."

"You make these statues yourself?" Percy asked.

"Oh, yes. I have some help actually, from my two sisters. We are inseparable, you know?" She explained.

Annabeth had stopped eating. She sat forward and said, "Two sisters?"

"Yes, yes. We stayed together ever since that 'accident.' It's a terrible story, not one for children, really." Aunty Em said. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a... a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. My sisters stayed by my side defending me. Unfortunately, they too shared my bad fortune."

Percy wasn't sure what she meant, but he felt bad for her. His eyelids kept getting heavier, his full stomach making him sleepy. "Poor old lady. Who would want to hurt somebody so nice?" He mumbled.

"Percy?" Annabeth was shaking Percy to get his attention. "Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting."

Naruto was sipping on his shake now. Now that he had his fill, he was starting to get back to his normal self. Around that time, he heard the hissing sound again, much louder this time. He took look at Grover and saw that he picked it up too. He gave him a look to drop it and that they'd figure it out.

This just made Grover even more nervous. He started eating the waxed paper off the tray. Hearing the hissing sound again definitely did not help, nor did Naruto's expression telling him to drop it.

"Such beautiful gray eyes," Aunty Em told Annabeth again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those."

She reached out as if to stroke Annabeth's cheek, but Annabeth stood up abruptly.

"We really should go."

"Yes!" Grover swallowed the waxed paper he was chewing and stood up. "The ringmaster is waiting! Right!"

"Yeah!" Naruto added. "We still need to figure out which gas station the old man is waiting at."

Percy, on the other hand, looked like he didn't want to leave. Having his fill seemed to have the opposite effect on him. He wanted to stay for a while.

"Please, dears," Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"

"A pose?" Annabeth asked warily.

"A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children."

"I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on, Percy-" Annabeth said shifting her weight from foot to foot.

"Sure we can." Percy said with an irritated tone. "It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?"

"_He's not seeing Annabeth's cues." _Naruto face-palmed mentally.

Percy's companions didn't like the idea, but followed Aunty Em anyway seeing that they were moving out back to the front door, into the garden of statues they passed a while back.

Aunty Em directed them to a park bench next to the stone satyr. "Now," she said, "I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side. You, Naruto, why don't you stand behind them."

"Don't you think it's a little dark for a photoshoot?" Naruto remarked.

"Oh, there is enough light," Aunty Em said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?"

"Where's your camera?" Grover asked.

"Oh, just sit tight my dears while I go and get it." Aunty Em said.

She left them there to go get the camera. That gave them some time to talk among themselves. Grover took the chance to study at the statue beside them.

"Percy!" Naruto scolded. "What were you thinking?!"

"What?" Percy said. "Don't you see she's just a sweet old woman?"

Naruto sighed.

"Percy, don't you find this weird?" Annabeth asked.

"Come on guys. She was super nice to us. She even fed us." Percy protested.

On their way there, Naruto and Annabeth were mentally connecting the dots. Annabeth decided to bring it up.

"Uh guys," Annabeth said. "I think I know who she is."

"What–" Percy tried to say something but Naruto didn't give him a chance to.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded. "The stone statues, this place smelling like the reptile section of the zoo, the hissing noises. She even said she has two sisters."

"What are you guys talking about? She's–" Percy tried to say but was cut off again.

A look of horror made it to Grover's face. "Guys, this statue IS my Uncle Ferdinand. He was killed by–"

Grover didn't get to finish. They heard Aunty Em approaching. This time she was not alone.

"What do we do?" Annabeth asked frantically in a whisper.

"We improvise." Naruto whispered quickly.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys. Another new chapter.**

**I received these reviews before posting this new chapter. When I read it, it was basically a lot of swearing. I just want to say two things:  
**

**(1) Wow. I know I am not good at writing. I am basically an AMATEUR. Do you need a definition persons who left flame reviews? cause I will definitely give the definition to you in the next chapter.**

**(2) Just wow. The way you flame me, it just feels like you NEVER HAD MADE A MISTAKE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. If so, WOW ARE YOU HUMAN?**

**To those who are open-minded, Thank you for reading even though I think my story sucks. Those flames just broke me for a couple of days. I'm sorry if these chapters are sub-standard. I'm really trying. Sometimes I make these stories when I come home tired from school. But, I really try.**

**Anyways, Till the next time.**


	13. Sssstatues Anyone?

**Chapter 13**

Annabeth was wondering how Percy had survived all his life. She also wondered if he ever questioned his choices in life because right now, she regretted following Percy here.

By now, Aunty Em was in the room with two other people. All three of them were wearing the same garb as Aunty Em.

"Children, I'm back." Aunty Em said as she returned with her companions. "Okay, can I get a smile from everyone? A big smile?"

"Uhh, who are they?" Percy asked.

"These are my sisters." Aunty Em said.

"This is Aunt E." She pointed to the one on the left.

"This is Aunty Es." She pointed to the one on the right.

"They are here to observe you. They have to get the details of the statues right, you know?"

Our group of demigods simply waived at them. Just Aunty Em was giving them the creeps. Adding her two sisters who were wearing almost the same dress as her except for the color added a whole new level of creep factor to them. Well, except for Percy who still bought the old woman persona.

"Now then, let me see those smiles." Aunty Em said with a enthusiasm in her voice.

Annabeth, Naruto and Grover noticed that she still didn't have a camera in hand. Instead, she was holding on to her veil. Now that the three know who she really is, they have an idea on what she was about to do.

"1… 2… 3…" She counted.

At the count of three, she raised her veil revealing her true form.

Before she could count to three, Naruto made the hand signs for a jutsu and quickly casted it.

"Get down!" he shouted to his friends. **"EARTH STYLE: MOBILE CORE!"**

As Aunty Em raised her veil, the earth at her feet rose, knocking her off balance.

Her sisters saw this and lunged at Naruto and his friends.

"Get down!" Naruto shouted as he dove, knocking his friends down to the ground to avoid the attacks of two sisters.

The two sisters landed flat on the floor with their snake hairs squirming from their cloaks.

"Percy, you were saying?" Naruto chastised the son of Poseidon.

"B-but…" Percy tried to defend himself.

"No time for that!" Annabeth said. "We have to get out of here."

"You guys spread out and hide. I'll lead the others away." Naruto said.

Naruto turned to the two sisters who by now were already up. Their hair that were made up of snakes were hissing at the demigods.

"Hey uglies! Catch me if you want to make a statue out of me."Naruto taunted as he ran past them.

They scrambled to get up and took off to chase after him. The last thing Naruto heard from his friends were scrambling and Annabeth shouting to Percy not to look into her eyes.

"**DIE, SON OF ARTEMIS!"** The one who was introduced as Aunt E threatened.

"Uhh, how about no?" Naruto said back as he ran dodging a swipe from Aunt E.

"**HOLD STILL SO WE CAN TURN YOU INTO A STATUE!**" The one introduced as Aunty Es said trying to grab the blonde.

"I don't think your statue maker is going to make out of this alive." Naruto retorted.

Both of them growled with their snake hairs hissing.

Naruto took out two kunai from his pouch and threw them at his pursuers. Being airborne, they easily swerved sideways to dodge them.

"_No good going long range while they are in the air." _Naruto thought. _"I got to knock them down to the ground."_

Naruto had an idea. **"WIND STYLE: HEAVY WIND BULLET"**

The blonde shot bullets of compressed air at his targets. The sisters didn't see the jutsu coming, so they got knocked down to the ground.

Both of them got shakily to their feet.

"**SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" **Naruto shouted with as he did the hand sign.

"You take care of Aunt E, or should I say Euryale." He told the clone. "I'll take care of Stheno."

His clone nodded and went off.

By that time, Stheno already had her bearings straight. He looked at Naruto and saw two of them now.

"**What is this?" **Stheno asked. **"Why are there two of you?"**

"Why should I tell you?" Naruto said as he charged Stheno.

Stheno had her fangs ready as the blonde drew near. She swiped at Naruto. Thankfully, Naruto was agile enough to dodge her claws.

In the corner of Naruto's eyes, he saw his clone send a Rasengan to Euryale. As usual, the jutsu did its work doing tons of damage, but was quickly reforming.

Stheno tried to take off again, but Naruto was quicker this time. He jumped over to her and kicked her towards a wall.

"**I WILL MINCE YOU TO PIECES, DEMIGOD!" **Stheno growled.

This time, instead of taking off, she bared her fangs and claws and dove towards Naruto.

Just in time, the blonde sidestepped and sent a chakra-enhanced punch square in the jaw. She held her jaw in pain. Naruto's other hand slammed her to the ground. At exactly the same time, Stheno, stabbed her tail at her opponent.

"**Hah! I got you!" **Stheno triumphantly cried.

Her expression immediately changed when Naruto disappeared in puff of smoke and, in his place, was a log.

"**NO!" **She wailed as the log fell to the floor. **"BUT I HIT YOU!"**

Stheno lay on the ground nursing her cheek. Back towards Euryale her sister, Naruto was now fighting her sister. Somehow, her sister was covered in cuts and burns all over her body.

She saw her sister trying to slice Naruto with her claws.

"**HOLD STILL!" **She shouted in frustration.

With one slice, Naruto disappeared, but quickly reappeared kicking her in the air. He then jumped in the air following her.

Euryale tried to flap her wings and slice Naruto who was just behind him. But, Naruto was flexible in the air managing to manuever out of the way and, instead, kicking her higher in the air.

With one last kick, Naruto sent her falling towards Stheno who was now beginning to get up.

Both of them groaned in pain.

When Naruto landed back to the ground, he didn't give them a chance to recover this time. He channelled lightning chakra to his blades and charged them. Before they could get up, he stabbed them straight on the chest.

"**I-I can't move." **Stheno said as she disintegrated into golden dust.

"**Too strong," **Euryale managed to say before she too disintegrated.

"Hmm, why do I get a feeling I would see them again in the future." Naruto said to himself as he pressed the ends of his kunai, causing them to go back to pen form

He shrugged it off.

By instinct, he went over to what was left of her opponents to look for spoils to bring home. Lying in the middle of the dust was one of Stheno's fangs.

"Score!" He cheered as he pocketed the fang. After that, he went on to see his friends.

* * *

**BACK WITH PERCY, ANNABETH AND GROVER**

Naruto found his friends just about done with their fight.

Grover was complaining with his eyes tightly closed, "Oh yuck, Mega yuck!"

Percy looked like he had just swung his sword. Annabeth was next to him wrapping Medusa's head with her black veil.

"Good job guys!" Naruto congratulated his friends. "I knew you could handle her."

"Naruto!" They all shouted when they saw Naruto walking back. Annabeth was a bit more enthusiastic jumping into a hug knocking the blonde down to the ground. Percy looked a little jealous looking away.

"What about you?" Annabeth asked. "I was worried. You took on two of them."

Naruto just grinned at her and winked. That sent the message.

Percy looked like he wanted to throw up. "Why didn't ... why didn't the head evaporate?" He asked.

"Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war," Annabeth answered. "Same as your Minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you."

Grover climbed down of a grizzly statue. He had a big welt on his forehead. His green Rasta cap hung from one of his little goat horns, and his fake feet had been knocked off his hooves. The magic sneakers were flying aimlessly around his head.

"You were really brave there Grover." Naruto praised.

"Yeah, the Red Baron," Percy chimed in. "Good job!"

He managed a bashful grin. "That was fun, to be honest, the whacking her with a stick part. The crashing into the statue part, not so fun."

Grover plucked his shoes out of the air and wore his fake feet again. Percy put away his sword. Together, they made their way to the warehouse.

Behind the counter, they found some grocery bags to double wrap the Medusa's head and so they could carry it easier. They plopped it on the table where they ate and sat down.

"So, we have Athena to thank for this monster?" Percy asked breaking the silence.

Annabeth flashed him an irritated look. She explained Medusa's history with Percy's dad which explained why she wanted to keep Percy as a statue. She explained why Athena turned her and her sisters into gorgons which explained why Medusa wanted to slice her up.

"Oh, so it's my fault we met Medusa?" Percy asked.

"No, but it's your fault we had to fight." Naruto said.

Annabeth straightened and copied Percy saying 'It's just a photo. What's the harm?"

"Such a sweet old woman." She continued.

"Shut up you guys." Percy said blushing.

Percy just stared at the bag. On its side, the words 'WE APPRECIATE YOUR BUSINESS' were printed.

He got up.

"Where are you going?" Annabeth asked.

"I'll be back." He said before running to the back of the warehouse.

A few minutes later, he came back with a box in hand. He placed the box on the table and stuffed the Medusa head inside of it. After that, he filled out a delivery slip

The Gods

Mount Olympus

600th Floor,

Empire State Building

New York, NY

With best wishes,

PERCY JACKSON

"They're not going to like that." Grover warned. "They'll think you're impertinent."

"I AM impertinent." Percy said.

"Do you even know what impertinent means, Percy?" Naruto teased.

"Shut up Naruto," Percy said. "Anyway, this will teach them about losing their stuff from now on."

As Percy said the word 'bolt', an idea made its way to Naruto's head giving him a mischievous grin.

"Wait!" Naruto said before Percy could seal up the package. "I'm gonna send something too."

From his bag, he brought out a lightning bolt plushie. Percy started to crack up.

"Where did you get that?" Percy asked in between laughs.

"Back at the bus stop when I went to buy food." Naruto answered. "Check this out."

Naruto squeezed the plushie and the toy sent out zapping noises.

Grover and Annabeth rolled their eyes. Percy was now out of breath from laughing, but he managed to laugh harder.

On the back of the delivery slip, Naruto wrote a note and placed it and the plushie inside the box.

Percy and Naruto sealed the box. The former poured some golden drachma inside a pouch. As soon as it closed, there was a sound of register. The package, then, floated off the table and disappeared with a pop.

"Okay now that you are done clowning around, we need to think of a new plan." Annabeth said.

"And can we get out of here." Grover chimed in. "This place doesn't seem safe anymore."

They went around the room to look for supplies, packed them up, and went on their way.

* * *

**BACK IN THE WOODS**

They left the Garden Gnome Emporium tired from having to fight twice in one day and walk the rest of the day. Thankfully, they found some supplies and money in Medusa's office. Honestly, the other demigods didn't want to rely on Naruto's supplies.

Right now, they were walking again. The night was quiet. Only the sound of the occasional animal was heard.

"Uhmm, I never got to ask," Grover broke the night's silence. "How do you still have your bag?"

Naruto scratched his head. "Ever since the Bull-man incident, I'm not taking any chances of losing my bag again."

"You can fight with that on your back?" Annabeth asked curiously.

"It's not the first time I did it." Naruto answered.

After walking for a hundred yards, they made it to an area that looks like teens used as a party place. All around them, fast food wrappers and soda cans littered the area.

As they were setting up camp, Grover spoke up, "This makes me sad."

"What does?" Percy asked. "You signing up for this stupid quest?"

"No. All this makes me sad." Grover answered as he gestured all around him. "And the sky, you can't even see the stars anymore. This is a terrible time to be a satyr."

"Yeah, this is what I hated when I came here." Naruto explained. "Back in the Elemental Nations, the wild is pretty much untouched. The only damage done there is through the battles. But, even with that, the wild still grows back. And, every night, the stars would shine brightly. You could watch them at night."

"It sounds like Pan would love it there." Grover mused.

"Pam? Like the cooking spray?" Percy asked.

Annabeth sighed loudly. "It's P-A-N, Percy, not P-A-M."

"As clueless as ever, Percy." Naruto teased.

The three of them chuckled for a bit at Percy's expense. The latter blushed in embarrassment. A few minutes later, they were done setting up.

They were beginning to get comfy in their own places. Annabeth curled up on the blankets. As soon as her head hit the ground, she was sound asleep, snoring. Grover and Naruto decided to camp out up on the trees. Before Percy could get comfy, he asked about lighting a fire for them to dry off, but the idea was shot down because Annabeth said it could attract monsters and they were not keen on fighting anymore monsters.

Percy just shrugged it and sat down, leaning on the trunk of a tree.

"You can go ahead and sleep," Percy said. "I'll take first watch."

"No need. I got it covered." Naruto said pointing to four the clones stationed at different points around them. And so, they decided to get comfortable and get some well-needed rest.

The boys lay there for a few moments, but they really couldn't sleep.

Percy knew his friends were still awake, so he spoke up, "Is Pan, the reason you need the searcher's license for?"

"Yeah," Grover replied. "It's my dream to find him and bring him back, so he could save the wild."

"What happened to him, Grover? Why do you need to find him?"

"The God of Wild Places disappeared two thousand years ago," he explained. "A sailor off the coast of Ephesus heard a mysterious voice crying out from the shore, 'Tell them that the great god Pan has died!' When humans heard the news, they believed it. They've been pillaging Pan's kingdom ever since. But for the satyrs, Pan was our lord and master. He protected us and the wild places of the earth. We refuse to believe that he died. In every generation, the bravest satyrs pledge their lives to finding Pan. They search the earth, exploring all the wildest places, hoping to find where he is hidden, and wake him from his sleep."

"That's a pretty big dream, Grover." Naruto commented. "And it sounds dangerous."

Grover nodded. "No searcher has ever come back. Once they set out, they are never heard from again."

"And you still want to be a searcher?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, it's my life's dream," Grover explained. "My father was a searcher. And my Uncle Ferdinand ... the statue you saw back there – "

"Oh right, sorry." Percy said.

Grover shook his head, and said with determination. "Uncle Ferdinand knew the risks. So did my dad. But I'll succeed. I'll be the first searcher to return alive."

"That's dedication for you." Naruto said. "Grover, never give up on your dream. No matter how difficult things seem, even if the odds are stacked against you. All you need is a hope and pure determination."

"Naruto's right. You will definitely find him." Percy said.

"Gee, thanks guys. You don't know how much it means for me to hear that." Grover said thankfully while wiping a stray tear from his eyes.

"Anytime, G-man." Percy and Naruto said together.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes until Grover spoke up.

"Hey Naruto, it sounds like you've been telling that to yourself the stuff you've told me all your life."

A sad look made its way to Naruto's face.

"Well I grew up on my own. I never knew my parents. The other villagers didn't care much about me. And so, I dreamed of being the Hokage, the leader and the strongest ninja of the village, so that they would acknowledge me. Although, it turned out I didn't need to be Hokage for some people to acknowledge me."

"That sounds like a hard life." Grover commented.

"But why would the other villagers not care for you?" Percy asked. That part of Naruto's story bothered him.

Now this was the part he didn't want his friends to learn about for fear they would shun him too.

Naruto simply answered him with, "Long story…"

After that, the three fell into silence left to their own thoughts. Grover thought hopefully about his search for Pan. Percy was thinking about his quest to go to the Underworld. And Naruto, he was taking in the night sky. Though he felt sad that he couldn't see the stars, the light of the moon still gave him comfort.

"So… How do we get to the Underworld without dying first?" Percy asked. "And if we do, what chance do we have against a god?"

They really have not thought about it ever since they left for the quest. Both of his friends shrugged.

"Hmm… getting there, we'll worry about that later. First, we have to get to LA." Naruto said. "As for facing a god, that's another story. We certainly can't count on Persephone this time. She is the only one who could appease her husband."

Grover nodded. "Back at Medusa's when you were searching her office? Annabeth was telling us – "

"Oh, I forgot. Annabeth will have a plan all figured out." Percy said

"Percy, don't start." Naruto warned.

"Don't be so hard on her, Percy. She's had a tough life, but she's a good person. After all, she forgave me..." Grover's voice faltered.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked. "Forgave you for what?"

"Hmmm, this is new to me." Naruto commented. "What are you talking about?"

Grover went silent. He seemed more interested in his pipes.

"Wait a minute," Percy said. "Your first keeper job was five years ago. Annabeth has been at camp five years. She wasn't ... I mean, your first assignment that went wrong-"

"I can't talk about it," Grover said, and his quivering lower lip suggested he'd start crying if I pressed him. "But as I was saying, back at Medusa's, Annabeth and I agreed there's something strange going on with this quest. Something isn't what it seems."

"You think? I'm the one getting blamed here." Percy complained.

"That's not what I mean. " Grover said.

"He's right, Percy. It seemed like they were looking for something. I mean, back at the bus, they were screeching, 'Where is it?'"Naruto explained.

"Yeah, they were looking for me, right?" Percy said.

"Maybe." Grover said. "But they were saying 'Where is it?' like they were looking for an object."

Percy frowned. "That doesn't make sense."

"I don't like where this might be going, but we only have nine days to return the bolt…" Naruto said.

None of them had anything to say about that, but Percy did have something to confess.

"I haven't been honest with you guys…" He confided. "I only signed up for this quest so I could get back my mother back from the Underworld. I don't care about the Master Bolt."

"Uhmm… Perce, are you sure that's the only reason?" Grover asked.

Percy nodded. "I am not helping my dad. He doesn't care about me, and I don't care about him… so we're even."

Naruto sighed. "Percy, I have been with you for a long time now to know what you're thinking. I'm sure Grover here has noticed it too. You just found out that your dad is still out there. You're happy that he has claimed you. You want him to notice you somehow."

"But…" Percy tried to protest.

"He's right Percy. I can read your emotions. And, I'm guessing that is the reason you mailed Medusa's head to Olympus."

Percy shook his head. "No, you guys are wrong. I don't care what he thinks. Besides, I haven't done anything to brag about. I mean, we barely got out of New York, and we're stuck here with no money and no way west."

"Okay, Percy. Whatever." Grover said.

"That's enough arguing for one night." Naruto said with finality. "Why don't we get some sleep?"

"Oh, alright. Good night, then guys." Percy said.

"Good Night!" Naruto and Grover said at the same time.

Percy turned away and closed his eyes. Unbeknownst to his friends, he was having another dream about the quest. Grover, on the other hand, didn't sleep right away, but he played some music on his pipes before going to sleep.

"_These guys can be a handful sometimes." _Naruto thought. _"But they are fun to be with, though."_

In the corner of his eyes, he noticed that Annabeth was shivering. Apparently, the blanket she was using wasn't doing its job.

Naruto jumped down from his tree. Fortunately, he had a spare blanket. He wrapped it around Annabeth. She stopped shivering and a smile made its way to her lips.

He went back to the branch he was before and lay on his back. In his new position, he saw the moon strangely glowing brighter.

"Mom, is that you?" He asked

He didn't need an answer. He knew that the moon was his mother's domain. It made him feel warmer. As he closed his eyes, he went into a slumber.

* * *

**MOUNT OLYMPUS**

"GIVE IT BACK! I KNOW YOU HAVE IT!" A tall, imposing and muscular man shouted.

This man had black shoulder length hair and grey and black neatly trimmed beard. He had brilliant electric blue eyes. He was wearing a dark blue pin-striped suit. This is Zeus, King of the Gods and Lord of the Sky. Right now, his expression was as dark as a thundercloud.

Arguing back was someone who looked like an old-time fisher man, "I DON'T HAVE YOUR STUPID TOY! WHY WOULD I STEAL YOUR STUPID TOY ANYWAY?" he shouted back

This man had black hair, a neatly trimmed black beard, a deep tan and sea-green eyes that were surrounded by sun crinkles. Unlike his brother, he was wearing casual clothes, namely, leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it. This is Poseidon, God of the Sea.

These two elder brothers of Olympus were arguing again. Ever since the loss of the Master Bolt, arguments like this were happening a lot more frequently.

"MY MASTER BOLT IS NOT A STUPID TOY! BESIDES, THIS IS BECAUSE MOTHER RHEA LIKED ME BETTER, ISN'T IT?!"

"THAT'S A PETTY REASON! I DON'T EVEN HAVE YOUR BOLT TO BEGIN WITH!"

The other gods wished that their arguments would stop. Day after day, it seemed like they would never hear the end of this argument. One of the Olympians, though, was sitting on his throne, grinning like a maniac hoping for war.

"They keep arguing and arguing. They didn't even notice a quest was given." An eight year old girl with said to herself as she was stoking the fire.

This girl was sweet looking and had an honest smile. She had black hair that framed her face in ringlets and warm brown eyes. She was wearing a simple and plain brown. This is Hestia.

In the middle of their argument, Hermes, the God of Messengers spoke from his throne.

"Uhh, if I may interrupt. There's a package for Poseidon and Zeus." He said.

That got their attention. Fortunately, they stopped.

"_Oh good, they stopped." _The other gods thought.

"Who could possibly send us a package?" Zeus asked.

Hermes snapped his fingers and a small table appeared where he placed the package.

"Oh, it's from my son." Poseidon said as he read the words written on the box.

Zeus glared at him.

"And apparently, from Artemis' son." He continued.

Hermes opened the package. He brought the contents out from the box. He was holding Medusa's head wrapped in plastic bags which was still dripping goo from the neck.

The other gods and goddesses entered the throne room. They were curious why the two brothers had stopped arguing. When they saw the head, all they could say was 'EW!"

"I guess he is not happy with us." Poseidon said.

"HE DARES INSULT US LIKE THIS!" Zeus said enraged.

"Can you blame him, brother?" Poseidon said to appease his brother. "They must have been attacked today for him to do this."

"Oh what is this?" Hermes said seeing that there was another object in the box.

"Oh this guy is a genius!" He said starting to crack up.

"What now?" Zeus asked.

Hermes brought out a yellow lightning bolt plushie and gave it to Zeus. All the other gods were silent, not wanting to anger the King of the Gods even more, but in their faces, you could see that they were trying hard not to laugh too.

Hermes read the note that he got from the box with the plushie

_Dear Zeus_

_This is Naruto Uzumaki, son of Artemis. I'm sure you've heard of me by now. Right now, we are on a quest to retrieve you Master Bolt. I'm guessing you are a little glum about losing it, so I sent a little gift for you until we retrieve it._

_Peace_

"IS THIS A JOKE?" Zeus shouted getting infuriated even more.

In his anger, he inaverdently squished the toy.

That was the breaking point. All the gods watching now fell to the floor laughing. Even the goddesses were giggling madly at what happened.

"_Hmmm, Uzumaki… That sounds familiar somehow." _Hermes thought to himself.

Zeus was the only on who didn't find this amusing. He had a huge scowl on his face. He clearly didn't like Naruto's 'gift' for him.

"I'm starting to hate this kid." He mumbled to himself.

* * *

**A/N: Heeey Guyss!**

**I just want to thank you guys for the reading my story. I can't believe anyone other than myself was going to read this story. Well, here's another chapter for you all. If you have any comments and suggestions, please let me know.**

**Anyway, Thanks for those reviews about the flamers. Really, those hate speech had an effect on me so I wasn't writing at a usual pace. **


	14. Onward to Den- Oh no not again

**Chapter 14**

"Is it morning already?" Grover groaned as he woke up. "Is anyone awake?"

"Me. I'm awake." Annabeth answered as she stretched in her spot. "Morning Grover."

"Morning Annabeth." He greeted back.

Grover stretched too. When he opened his eyes, he looked at the tree branch where Naruto was lying the night before.

"Uhm… Annabeth, where's Naruto?" Grover asked.

"Dunno, his blanket is with me though." Annabeth asked.

Grover flew down from the tree he was in. Both of them looked around. The clones Naruto pointed to last night were already gone. To Annabeth's left, she spotted the blonde who was just coming back from a stroll.

"Morning guys" Naruto greeted followed by a bark from a small dog.

"I see you're awake and Percy is still asleep." He continued.

"Morning Naruto." Both of them greeted back in unison.

"Where'd you go?" Annabeth asked.

"I went for a walk." He answered.

"Oh I see. Thanks for the blanket by the way. I hope you weren't cold last night." Annabeth said.

"Anytime," Naruto answered. "You were shivering last night so I thought I'd give you my blanket."

"That was very sweet of you."

Naruto gave her a big smile.

The dog beside Naruto barked.

"Oh sorry, sorry. Guys this is Gladiola. She says 'say hi hoomans!'"

"Hi Gladiola!" Both of Naruto's friends greeted.

"Wait, wait, wait… You–" Grover exclaimed.

"Yep." Naruto answered nonchalantly. "I'm just as surprised as you are. Guess this is one of the gifts I got from my mom."

"Wow! That's so cool!" Grover said.

He, then, glanced at Percy who was still sleeping. "Should we wake Percy?"

"Later," Annabeth said. "After I cook breakfast."

She turned to Gladiola and said with a smile, "You're welcome to join us too, Gladiola."

Gladiola barked in gratitude.

* * *

**A FEW MINUTES LATER**

After Annabeth was done cooking, she said, "Okay, time to wake Percy."

Naruto was about to go, but she quickly stopped him. "I'll do it."

Looking over Percy, she could see a pool of drool was forming at the side of his mouth. She, then, grabbed Percy by the shoulder and shook him awake.

Percy's eyes fluttered open.

"Well, the zombie lives." Annabeth said.

He was trembling like he just came from a nightmare. "H-how long was I asleep?" He managed.

"Long enough for me to cook breakfast, and for Naruto to go strolling." She answered.

Percy glanced at Grover and Naruto.

Gladiola barked suspiciously.

"No, he's not." Grover said.

"He's a friend too." Naruto added.

Percy blinked. "Are you ... talking to that thing?"

Gladiola growled.

"Her…" Naruto corrected.

"She is our ticket west. Be nice." Grover told him off.

"Yeah, check this out." Naruto showed him a flier with the words MISSING plastered on the top and a picture of Gladiola just below it.

"You guys can talk to animals?" Percy asked.

They ignored his question.

Instead, Grover introduced Percy to Gladiola. "Gladiola, this is Percy. Percy, Gladiola."

Percy glanced at Annabeth hoping to see if she would crack up. He figured his friends were pranking him. Unfortunately, she was dead serious. All of them were.

"No." Percy said. "I am not saying hello to the poodle. Forget it."

"We said hi to Gladiola, Percy. You should too."

Gladiola growled.

"Okay, okay." Percy said with his arms raised. "Hi Gladiola. There, happy?"

She barked as if saying, 'Damn right!"

As Percy was eating, his friends explained to him how Naruto came across the poodle while he was strolling through the woods. He was dumbfounded when he learned that Naruto was able to talk to animals due to his mother. They explained that Gladiola ran away from her family, so they posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola really didn't want to go back home, but she was willing to after they had talked when Annabeth was preparing breakfast.

"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" Percy asked.

"Duh." Grover said. "He read the signs."

"So we bring Gladiola home, we get the money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles." Annabeth said in her best strategy voice.

"Not another bus." Percy said warily.

Naruto shook his head. "Nope."

"Gladiola said there's an Amtrak station half a mile that way." Naruto pointed downhill. "She said it leaves at noon."

* * *

First on the checklist of the group was to get Gladiola back to her owners. Thankfully, they didn't have to look for the house because the poodle knew how to get home.

When they got to the house, they knocked on the door. A large lady opened the door. Naruto and the gang introduced themselves and told the lady that they were there to return Gladiola. As soon as the lady saw her poodle, she shouted in glee, picked the dog up and smothered her.

When Naruto saw this, he felt phantom claws scratch his face. The owner reminded him of Tora the cat, the one he and Team 7 repeatedly caught back in the Hidden Leaf.

After they got paid, they said their goodbyes to the lady and to Gladiola. Then, they were on their way to the train station.

When they got a little farther from the house, Naruto said to his friends, "Now, I understand why Gladiola ran away."

His friends save for Percy snickered at the older blonde's statement.

Now, they needed to make their way to the Amtrak station.

On the way to the train station, only Percy was silent. He had this dream about a voice in a deep pit coaxing him to join him and help him rise. Until now, he was still shaken. Naruto was making jokes so his friends would forget their fatigue. He knew that they were not used to this unlike him.

Thankfully, no monsters attacked and they got into the train safe and sound.

Naruto's friends stopped for a moment to catch their breaths.

"You guys stay here." Annabeth said. "I'll go and buy us some tickets."

The rest of the group nodded, and she left to go get the tickets. They had to wait for a bit, since there were quite a bit of people in the train station.

After Annabeth returned, they went on to the platform to wait for the train.

"Guys, keep your head down." Grover warned his friends.

They saw both of their pictures in several East coast newspapers that people were reading. One newspaper in particular, the Trenton Register News, showed a picture of both boys as they got off the Greyhound. Percy had a wild look in his eyes. On his hands, there was a metallic blur. Naruto was on his side when the picture was taken. When you looked at his hands, he looked like he was holding a piece of bread with its top bitten off.

Under the picture, it read:

_Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson and Thirteen-year-old Naruto Uzumaki, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of Sally Jackson two weeks ago, are shown here fleeing from the bus where they accosted several elderly female passengers. The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson and Uzumaki fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boys may be traveling with two teenage accomplices. Gabe Ugliano, Sally Jacksons's husband, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture. _

Naruto cursed under his breath.

"Don't worry," Annabeth said. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound so sure.

Eventually, Grover and the demigods were able to get on the train.

Unfortunately for the demigods, the trip was going to take more than a day to get to their destination. The reward money was able to buy them tickets to go as far as Denver, but it was not enough to get them berths at the sleeper cars. You could just imagine the murder on their necks for trying to sleep upright.

For the rest of the day, the demigods played some cards, which Naruto had packed for situations like this. They were playing just for fun. It's not like they had money to gamble anyway.

Those cards Naruto brought managed to get them through the rest of the day.

When night came, they were tired, so they fell asleep soundly. Throughout the night, Grover's bleating and snoring was waking his friends every now and then.

Later that night, Naruto was once again woken up by Grover's snoring. At that time, he caught Percy mumbling in his sleep. "I won't help you." He said.

"_I wonder if he's dreaming about this quest." _Naruto thought.

To Percy's left, Grover shuffled in his sleep. He mumbled something about enchiladas, then moved about. This made his fake feet fall off exposing his goat feet.

Naruto saw this, and quickly sprang up to stick his shoe back into place.

He looked around to see if anyone saw this happen. Fortunately, it was only Annabeth who was awake. She was leaning on Naruto's shoulder and Naruto's scrambling off his seat waking her up.

"Sorry, I woke you up." Naruto apologized.

"It's okay." Annabeth said.

Naruto smiled. "Did you sleep okay?" He asked.

"As okay as Grover's snoring could make." She answered.

They both quietly chuckled.

Their conversation was interrupted when Percy mumbled a little louder this time.

"No.. I won't help you." He moaned. "Just give back my mother."

Naruto and Annabeth looked at each other.

Percy woke up with a start from his dream this time.

"You okay?" Naruto asked.

He nodded.

"So, who needs your help?" Annabeth asked.

"What?" Percy asked confused.

"You were mumbling in your sleep." She said. "So, who were you dreaming about?"

Percy looked reluctant to say something. But, he changed his mind and decided to tell his friends about it. It was a good thing that his friends were silent while they listened to his story.

"That doesn't sound like Hades." Annabeth said as soon Percy finished the story.

"How can't it be Hades? The voice offered my mom." Percy protested.

"I think were missing something here." Naruto said. "I have a hunch that Hades isn't the real culprit."

"How?" Annabeth asked. "I mean, he should hold grudges against his brothers. Why wouldn't he want them to tear themselves apart?"

"I don't know." Naruto shook his head. "Damn, I hate not knowing anything. Missions back at home weren't this mysterious."

"I agree." Annabeth said.

"Anyway, I feel we will find our answers in the Underworld." Naruto said.

The three sat in silence hoping the quest wouldn't get so complicated. In a few moments, they were sleeping again fatigue still catching up with them.

* * *

**HE NEXT DAY**

Grover woke up in the morning to Naruto looking out the window.

"Good morning." Naruto greeted when he noticed his friend wake up.

"Mornin' Naruto." Grover greeted back.

"My butt's getting sore of sitting here all day."

"Me too. Too bad we still have at least a day to spend here."

"Yeah, well what can you do?"

Grover smiled. He looked at Annabeth beside Naruto. She was still sound asleep leaning on Naruto's shoulder.

"Annabeth seems to be warming up to you." Grover commented. "She has never been the type to trust too easily."

He was silent for a few seconds, and then he continued. "At least not since Thalia."

Naruto watched Grover's expression. He saw Grover trying to keep himself together. He knew that Thalia was touchy subject for Grover. The satyr still blamed himself for her loss.

"You were assigned to get Thalia to Camp, weren't you Grover?" Naruto asked.

Grover was silent. All he could do without breaking down was nod his head.

Naruto took a deep breath.

"Grover, not all things come in our favour. All of us have our failures, even me." Naruto said.

"Even you?"

Grover couldn't believe what he was hearing. He looked up to Naruto. It was hard for him to see him or hear about him fail.

Naruto nodded. He tried for a pained smile.

"W-what happened?"

"I have this teammate, who I always had fights with. Even back when we were young, I saw him all alone. I was thrilled, when I knew this, you know? I know it's crazy, but I felt that I wasn't the only one alone anymore. There was someone else like me. So we grew up and wound up on the same team. When we had our introductions, he said that he had this ambition of killing someone. So, he had to get stronger. I always looked up to him. I kept chasing after him, so I got stronger. What I didn't know was he was getting intimidated by how far I was getting. And so, he decided to leave the village in pursuit of power."

Naruto paused for a moment.

"The Hokage learned about this and made up a team to chase after him and bring him back to the village. We were hot on their tails. His escorts tried to slow us down to the point where one by one, each of my teammates had to stay behind and fight them one on one. After a long chase, I managed to catch up to him, but he tried to kill me. So, I decided that if I were to bring him back home, I had to break every bone inside his body and drag him back the village. We had to settle it that time. We fought until we had to bring out our trump cards, and unleash one last attack on each other."

"You lost?"

Naruto shrugged. "I didn't know what happened. When I came to, I was here in this world. All I know is I wasn't able to bring him back."

Grover took a while to take it all in.

In the moment of silence, Annbeth decided to speak up. Apparently, she had been awake listening to their conversations about Thalia.

"I never blamed you for what happened." Annabeth said.

"Mornin' Annabeth." Naruto greeted.

When Grover heard this, he was sniffling already.

"R-really?" He managed to ask.

Annabeth nodded her head. "Losing Thalia hurt for sure, but none of us ever blamed you for it, even Luke. I'm sure Thalia forgives you."

She got up and hugged the satyr.

"Thanks guys." Grover managed.

"Anytime," Both blondes said at the same time.

At this time, Percy was stirring from his sleep and slurping the drool that had formed on the side of his mouth.

"Wha–" Percy said as he woke up.

His friends just laughed at the son of Poseidon. That is how the second day of their trip started.

For the second day, the demigods played cards again, but they quickly grew tired of this. Percy couldn't sit still this time, so he spent the whole day pacing the train carriage back and forth. Naruto, Annabeth and Grover played a game of looking for stuff outside the window, kind of like bingo.

In one instance, they passed by a wheat field where they saw a family of centaurs. The little boy centaur, who was the size of a second-grader with the back side of a pony, waved at them as they pass. The other passengers didn't seem to notice them. Just like yesterday, the other passengers were preoccupied with their gadgets.

Later, they passed a wooded area. They saw the silhouette of a huge creture moving through the woods. Naruto thought it was a lion, but he couldn't believe it. He knew that lions didn't live in the wild in America. Before they could find out what it was, the creature leaped through the trees and disappeared.

Towards, the end of the day, Naruto and Annabeth were just talking to each other. She seemed comfortable talking about her life to the older blonde. Percy got tired of looking around the train, so he just sat down beside Grover who was snoring again.

Around that time, they went through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River into St. Louis. Annabeth craned her neck to get a better view of the Gateway Arch.

Percy made a comment about how it looked like a huge shopping bag handle stuck to the city.

Annabeth flashed him an angry look and mumbled, "Seaweed Brain" . Naruto facepalmed, and Grover snored in agreement.

"I want to do that." She told her friends.

"What?" Percy asked.

"I want to build something like that or… or build something like the Parthenon. Something that would be the greatest monuments for the gods. Something that would last a thousand years like the Parthenon."

Percy laughed. "You? An architect?"

Annabeth's cheeks flushed.

Naruto flashed Percy an angry look. "Percy, you don't riff on the dreams of other people. I should know…"

Annabeth smiled. She put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and mouthed 'thank you.'

"Sorry." Percy apologized.

"Yes Percy, an architect. As children of Athena, we are expected to build things."

"Never give up your dreams." Naruto said.

She grinned.

Percy thought for a moment and said, "Uhm… Can't we work together a little?"

Naruto and Annabeth looked at Percy.

"I mean, didn't Poseidon and Athena ever cooperate?" Percy asked.

She had to think about it. "I guess ... the chariot," she said tentatively. "My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete."

"Then, we can cooperate too, right?"

As they rode into the city, Annabeth was looking out the window, watching the Arch as it disappeared behind a hotel.

"I suppose," she said as the Arch disappeared.

"Good," Naruto said. "I hope you guys won't fight anymore."

"We won't." Both of them said with a bleat of affirmation from a sleeping Grover.

A little later, the train pulled up into the Amtak station. The intercom told the passengers that they would have a three-hour layover before departing to Denver.

Grover stretched in his place and moaned, "Food!"

Annabeth shook him awake, "Come on Goat-boy. We're going sightseeing."

"Sightseeing?"

"Yep! The Gateway Arch," she explained. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. You coming or not?"

Percy looked like he wanted to protest. He and Grover exchanged looks.

"Come on guys. Give her a chance." Naruto urged.

The satyr shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar without monsters. I had enough of getting attacked."

"Fair enough." Naruto said.

"Let's go!" Annabeth pulled her friends along with Naruto following along.

The Arch was a mile away from the train station. Percy and Grover weren't too happy to walk again. Both of them were complaining about it. Naruto promised to treat them with some food if they go along with Annabeth for the next three hours.

The promise of food got their attention, though, they still didn't look thrilled about the sights and Annabeth spouting facts about the Arch. Only Naruto was listening intently to her explanations and occasionally asking questions. To be fair, it was his first time to see the Arch. For the past year, the only thing the blonde had seen was Manhattan and Camp Half-Blood.

While munching on their treats, Percy kept looking around, especially at the other people in the line, and leaned over to Grover who had his nose in a jelly bean bag.

"You smell any monsters?" He asked.

Grover momentarily looked up to sniff the air. He shook his head. "Underground air always smells like monsters."

But Percy didn't seem convinced, so he spoke up interrupting Annabeth's explanation causing both blondes to look at him.

"Uhh guy, you know the gods' symbol of power?"

"Yeah?" Annabeth said with an irritated look on her face.

"Doesn't Hade–" Percy began to say, but Grover quickly covered his mouth.

He cleared his throat. "Percy, we're in public… You mean our friend downstairs" He looked at the floor to like it would open up to swallow them.

"More like way downstairs," Naruto joked.

"Y-yeah. Our friend way downstairs has a hat like Annabeth's, right?" Percy asked.

"The Helm of Darkness," Naruto said.

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice meeting."

"Wait, wait, wait," Naruto said excitedly. "You went to Mount Olympus last winter solstice?"

"Yes. Us year-rounders go to there for a field trip of sorts." She explained.

Naruto wolf-whistled.

"Anyway," she continued. "His helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat. My hat only allows me to go invisible, while the Helm allows him to melt into shadow or pass through walls. The user can't be touched, or seen, or heard, and he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. He literally becomes darkness itself."

"S-so, how do we know for sure he's not watching us right now?" Percy asked.

"We don't." It was Grover who replied.

"Okay, now that we got that out of the way. Annabeth, please continue." Naruto urged to which Annabeth obliged. She was happy that someone else was as interested as her.

THey made it to the elevator to take them to the top of the Arch. Seeing how small the car was made Percy feel queasy just by looking at it. Nevertheless, the entered the elevator anyway.

Before the elevator door could close, a hand shot forward to stop it, and a very plump lady walked in with her Chihuahua. The lady definitely reminded them of Gladiola's owner.

When the newcomer was in place, the elevator door closed and the car started going up.

The lady decided to make small talk, "No parents?"

"They're below," Annabeth told her. "Scared of heights."

"Oh, the poor darlings."

The Chihuahua growled at the group. The woman told her dog off, "Now, now, sonny. Behave."

The dog stopped growling, kept eyeing them, especially Percy.

Naruto was thinking to himself. He should have understood what the dog was saying, but this time, he didn't. That distracted him from listening to Annabeth

"His name is Sonny?" Percy asked.

"No," She said. Then, she smiled like that cleared everything up.

At the top of the Arch, Percy was glad that the lady went the opposite way. Being at the top of the Arch, though, didn't help Percy's queasiness. He pretty much wanted to get down.

Naruto decided to listen to Annabeth, but a nagging feeling was telling him that something was wrong about that Chihuahua. Annabeth was talking about structural supports, this time, and how she made the windows bigger and designed a see-through floor. Naruto and Annabeth, heck even Grover if he still had food, could have stayed there for hours, but luckily for Percy, Grover was running out already and a Park Ranger announced that they would be closing in a few minutes, much to Annabeth's dismay.

Percy, then, steered his friends to the elevator car. Unfortunately, the car was only able to take Annabeth and Grover, since there were already two other tourists in the car.

"Next car, sirs." The park ranger said.

"No, no, no. We'll get out." Annabeth protested. "We'll wait for you two."

"Naw, it's okay. We'll see you guys at the bottom." Percy said.

"Are you sure?" Grover asked.

"Yeah! If you get out now, that would take more time." Naruto said. "Plus, we got each other's back."

Annabeth and Grover had a nervous look on their faces, but they let the doors close and the elevator car proceeded to go down.

Now, the only ones left in the top of the Arch are a family, complete with mother, father and a little boy, the park ranger, and the plump lady with a Chihuahua, along with Naruto and Percy.

They both smiled at the plump lady, and she smiled back at her with a forked tongue between her teeth.

"Dude, she can't be human." Naruto whispered to his friend when he saw the tongue.

Percy rubbed his eyes to check if he had really seen it. "Why am I getting a feeling that were going to fight again?" He complained.

The Chihuahua decided to take the moment to start barking at Percy.

"Now, now, sonny," The lady said. "Does this look like a good time? We have all this nice people here."

The little boy was admiring the Chihuahua, "Doggie!"

His parents pulled him back.

The Chihuahua bared his teeth, foam dripping from his black lips.

"Okay then, son," the fat lady sighed. "If you insist..."

Ice started forming in Percy's stomach. "Urn, did you just call that Chihuahua your son?"

"He's a Chimera, dear," the chubby lady corrected. "Not a Chihuahua. It's an easy mistake to make."

She rolled up her denim sleeves, revealing that the skin of her arms was scaly and green. When she smiled, it showed that her teeth were fangs. Her pupils were side-ways slits, like a reptile's.

The little boy was now screaming. His parents pulled him back, and they retreated straight to the park ranger, who stood, paralyzed, gaping at the monster with his back to the elevator doors.

Naruto and Percy, though, stood their ground as they watched as the Chihuahua, or Chimera as the lady said, slowly got bigger.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

**A/N: This is chapter 14 of my story. I hope you enjoy this story and Don't forget leave a review for you suggestions on the story.**

**Quick questions: **

**(1) I had a request about bringing a character from another fandom into the story. How would you feel about that?**

**(2) As you know, the Naruto and Percy would fight the Chimera in the next chapter. What do you want for Naruto to have as a spoil of war from the Chimera?**


	15. Showdown at the Arch and Phoning home

**Chapter 15**

"We can't seem to catch a break can we?" Naruto mumbled as he elbowed Percy who was right next to him.

The Son of Poseidon had his hands on his pen, though still frozen watching the small Chihuahua grow bigger and bigger.

The Chihuahua, er – I mean Chimera grew to a size where his back was rubbing against the roof of the Arch. It now had the head of a lion with a blood-caked mane. Its body along with its hooves were that of a goat. And, its tail was a ten-foot long diamondback serpent growing out of its shaggy behind. The rhinestone dog collar on the creature's neck grew to the size of a plate. The writing on it read as: CHIMERA-RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS-IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS-EXT. 954.

"Hey, Percy! Snap out of it!" Naruto called out but to no avail.

Echidna hissed beside his son, but the blonde could have sworn it was some kind of laughter.

"Be honored, Percy Jackson. Lord Zeus rarely allows me to test a hero with one of my brood. For I am the Mother of Monsters, the terrible Echidna!"

Percy began to stir, "Isn't that some kind of anteater?"

Naruto sighed. "This is no time for jokes, Percy!"

Echidna howled. Her reptilian was turning brown and green with rage. "I hate it when people say that! I hate Australia! Naming that ridiculous animal after me. For that, Percy Jackson, you shall have the honour of being eaten first. My son will love tearing you to pieces."

"Back off!" Naruto warned.

She paused for a bit. "Ahhh, the Son of Artemis, you have been quite the talk in the godly world. You are lucky Lord Zeus fears the beast inside of you. He knows better than to kill you and release it unto the world."

"Naruto, what's she–" Percy tried to ask.

The blonde ignored the question. "Percy, get out of the way!"

The Chimera was charging at them, its teeth gnashing.

Both boys managed to get out of the way, but they were split up, the monster between them.

Percy ended up next to the park ranger screaming into his radio and the family who were now screaming and trying to pry the elevator doors open. He chose that moment to uncap his sword and ran to join Naruto in the other side of the deck.

"Hey Chihuahua!" Percy taunted the beast.

The beast turned quicker than both boys ever imagined given its size and opened its mouth and blew a column of flame at the boys.

"Naruto! Get down!" Percy shouted as he dove straight for the ground thinking the flame was going to engulf them.

"_Uh oh." _Naruto thought. _"This could be bad!"_

With quick hands, Naruto made the hand signs for a jutsu. "WATER STYLE: RAGING WAVES!"

His right hand was in a half ram seal. From his mouth, water gushed out and collided with the flames, putting them out and causing steam to form.

"Uhh Percy, you can get up now." Naruto said.

Percy opened his eyes and saw that the ground around them was unscathed. He got up and cleared his throat, his cheeks turning a slight bit of red.

"So, what's she talking about?" Percy asked.

"This really isn't the time." Naruto answered dodging Percy's question.

Before the creature turned, Naruto charged and chose to slash around the mid portion of the beast. Percy followed suit and slashed his sword at the neck area. Unfortunately for Percy, the blade sparked harmlessly on the dog collar.

With Naruto's attack, the Chimera roared in pain and thrashed about. The blonde jumped backwards to avoid collision from the beast.

Percy, who was regaining his balance near the beast's head, was watching the head in case it wanted to bite his head off. Instead, the serpent tail wrapped itself around his ankle and dug its fangs onto Percy's calf and lifted him off the floor. He dropped his sword which dropped to the ground below the Chimera.

"Percy!" Naruto shouted in concern.

He jumped at the beast and slashed at the tail causing it to let go of Percy. On the way back to the ground, Naruto caught his friend who was now unconscious. Clearly, the bite had some poison in them. Before he could land, the Chimera turned and slammed its head at Naruto causing him to let go of Percy.

Naruto flew backwards towards the windows. He landed on the window pane, but Percy crashed through the glass and fell into the Mississippi River below.

* * *

**AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ARCH**

"What's taking them so long?" Annabeth said impatiently.

Annabeth and Grover were waiting at the bottom of the Arch waiting for the two boys to get down. They couldn't help but notice the commotion happening from the park rangers.

_We need *Static* There's some kind *Static* attacking *Static* We can't *Static* to work. *Static*_

"Hello!" The park ranger at the bottom of the Arch replied on his radio. "Are you okay up there?! We can't understand what you're saying!"

_*Static* elevators! Help! *Static*_

Annabeth gave Grover a worried look.

"Do you think they could be–"

A crash from the top of the Arch answered Annabeth's question. A black haired boy who appeared to be unconscious was falling from the top of the Arch.

"That looks like Percy!" Annabeth pointed out.

"Oh no! I'll go get him!" Grover said. "Ma–"

"No! There are a lot of people around. Let's go!"

Annabeth pulled Grover to the spot where Percy was going to land. They watched as he dropped to the river in a loud splash.

"I-if Percy is right here… Then Naruto is…" Annabeth said.

"Grover, you wait for Percy to come up of the water. I'll go help Naruto!"

Grover nodded.

* * *

**BACK AT THE TOP OF THE ARCH**

"Too bad, sonny." Echidna hissed. "You lost your meal."

Naruto gave them a murderous look.

"Too bad my son couldn't eat you Son of Artemis. Lord Zeus specifically told us not to harm you. Come on sonny." She continued.

"You will pay for that." Naruto said with an angry tone.

"You can go on and try Son of Artemis."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees. Naruto's eyes turned from blue to red with a slit in the middle. Red chakra began bubbling out of the blonde forming the outline of a fox around him.

A voice spoke in Naruto's mind. **"Yes… Show them our power…"**

"Th-this is–" Echidna said.

"You will regret that." Naruto growled.

Naruto charged the beast. The Chimera stood its ground its lion's head roaring at the blonde.

The Chimera's serpent tail pounced at Naruto, but the blonde was too fast. He rolled to right and punched the monster square in the face.

With the blonde's newfound strength, the monster was sent flying to the other side of the Arch. Naruto didn't let up his attack. In his right hand, a lavender-coloured sphere was forming.

Before the monster could get up, Naruto landed in front of it and slammed the sphere into the monster's side.

"**RASENGAN!" **He shouted.

The area exploded with the jutsu and sprayed rubble all over.

In the rubble cloud, Naruto stood over the beast lying on its side. There was a crater on the area where the jutsu collided. Slowly, the dust was swirling around the damaged area repairing it.

"Oh no you don't." The blonde quipped.

From his pouch, he took out two kunai and slashed through the stomach of the beast and it crumbled into golden dust.

Echidna was watching in horror waiting who would emerge from the cloud, but deep inside she knew that her son was done for. From the dust cloud, two bronze kunai flew out of the cloud and hit her in the neck and stomach. In the end, she too crumbled into golden dust.

The wind from the hole Percy flew through was starting to blow the dust cloud away. Naruto felt the manic energy finally leaving him, and with it, fatigue was getting to him. He remembered that the elevator wasn't working. And so, he jumped through the hole and stuck his feet to the side of the arch and ran down meet his friends.

* * *

**AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ARCH**

As Naruto was getting down from the side of the Arch, he saw that all around the Arch, what seemed like every emergency vehicle in Saint Louis and news media were circling the area. He remembered the news article he and Percy had in the newspaper, so he figured that he would get taken if the police were to see him. So, he used the darkness to conceal himself and used all the training he had as a shinobi to remain unseen.

When he got down, he decided to run on the surface of the river running away from the scene.

About a block away from The Arch, he heard Percy, Annabeth and Grover talking. On the other side of the bank, a little girl said, "Mama! That boy is running on the water!"

"That's nice dear." She said ignoring her daughter.

Naruto jumped up and startled his friends. After shaking the latest event off, Annabeth dove on the blonde and gave him a bear hug which knocked him over.

"Naruto!" Annabeth shouted. "I thought we were gonna lose you."

"I-is Percy okay?" was all Naruto was able to say.

"I'm okay man. The water cleared the poison from my system."

"But, that was quite a fall."

"Well, I landed in the water."

"Naruto, you fought the Chimera and her mother by yourself, and you're worried about Percy?" Grover said with worry.

"Well it was taken care of…" Naruto's voice trailed off.

More sirens blared in the distance.

"We got to get out of here." Annabeth said.

The group made their way back to the Amtrak station hoping that none of the authorities would find them. On their way there, from the window of a shop selling TV's, they heard the news anchor say, "That's right Dan, we have learned that Percy Jackson and Naruto Uzumaki were involved in this incident. Authorities have been looking for this two for a serious bus accident three days ago in New Jersey. It is believed that these boys are travelling west. For our viewers, here is a photo of Percy Jackson and Naruto Uzumaki."

The boys in the news froze when they heard their names.

"Great. Now were wanted fugitives." Naruto complained.

"We have to get out of town." Grover said.

They ducked through alleys until they got station. Thankfully, they got to the station just when the train was about to leave the station. The train trundled west with the sounds of police sirens blaring throughout the city.

* * *

**THE NEXT AFTERNOON**

It was June 14. Seven days were left before The Solstice when the train rolled into Denver. On the way, Naruto was filled in on his talk with the river spirit in the Mississippi River. Naruto just sighed upon hearing this. Once during the trip, Percy tried to ask Naruto about what Echidna was talking about back at the Arch. Naruto just dodged the question by answering, 'It's a long story…'

When they got off the train, Percy's stomach grumbled. The last meal they had was the night before in the dining car. Also, it was becoming apparent that they haven't showered in a while and it was becoming obvious.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said to her friends. "We have to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."

"But, we can't use phones, right?" Percy asked.

"I'm not talking about a phone." She said with finality.

The four of them wandered through downtown for about half an hour, with Percy and Naruto still curious about what Annabeth was talking about. The air around them was hot and dry, which contrasted the humid weather of St. Louis.

Finally, they found an empty do-it-yourself carwash. They entered and made their way to the stall farthest from the street while keeping their eyes open for patrol cars roaming the area.

"Uhh, what are we doing?" Percy inquired.

"It's seventy-five cents." Grover grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

"Don't look at me." She said. "The dining car wiped me out."

Percy fished out his pocket and found a quarter. He handed it to Grover.

"Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."

"What are we gonna do?" Naruto asked.

Grover fed the quarters to the machine and set knob to FINE MIST. "IM-ing"

"Instant messaging?" Percy asked.

"No, it's Iris Messaging." Annabeth shook her head. "The rainbow goddess carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask and have an offering, of course, she'll do the same for us."

"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"

Grover pointed the nozzles in the air and water hissed out in a thick mist. "Unless you have an easier way to make a rainbow." He spoke up.

"I got to see this." Naruto commented.

In the late afternoon light, colours broke from the vapour and created a rainbow.

Annabeth held out her palm. "Drachma please," she asked.

"Wait, I got one here." Percy handed one from his pocket.

The young lady raised the coin over her head. "O goddess, accept out offering."

She flipped the drachma into the rainbow. It disappeared in a golden shimmer of light.

The group waited. For a moment, nothing happened.

"So wha–" Percy began.

As he was about to say something, the strawberry fields with the Long Island Sound in the distance appeared in the rainbow. The feed seemed to be on the porch of the Big House. Standing on the railing with his back to the quest group was a familiar sandy- haired teenager in shorts and an orange tank top holding a bronze sword in his hand.

"Luke." Percy called out.

The sandy-haired teen turned with wide eyes.

"Cool!" Naruto commented. "It's like he's right in front of us."

"Hey, you guys!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"We're, uh, fine," Annabeth answered. She seemed to be flustered and was hiding it from her friends. "We thought – Chiron – I mean." She continued stumbling on some of her words.

"He's down at the cabins." Luke explained the smile on his face faded. "We're having some issues with the campers. Is everything cool with you? Is Grover alright?"

"I'm here," Grover called. He held the nozzle to one side and stepped into view. "What kind of issues?" He asked.

"Chiron had to – what's that noise?" Luke yelled.

As Luke was about to explain, a huge Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash blaring hip-hop from the car stereo. The car slid into the next stall the bass causing the pavement to shake.

"I got it." Naruto yelled through the noise. "Bye Luke! See ya later!"

Naruto waved goodbye to Luke before entering the stall next to them.

"Chiron had to break up a fight. Word got out of the Zeus-Poseidon standoff, so things got pretty tense here. We're still not sure who leaked the info, probably the same scumbag who summoned the hellhound. So, now the campers are taking sides like back at the Trojan War all over again. Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are backing Poseidon, more or less, while Athena is backing Zeus." Luke explained with his voice straining trying to compete with the loud music.

Percy shuddered at the thought. He couldn't imagine Clarisse and her siblings siding with his dad. In the next stall, the music volume decreased dramatically.

"Ohh…" was all they could say along with a sigh of relief at the decrease of the volume.

"So, what's your status?" Luke continued in normal speaking voice this time. "Chiron will be sorry he missed your call."

Percy told him everything. He explained his dreams and their escapades. Annabeth and Grover pitched in to fill in more details and adding things from their perspective or stuff that Percy forgot to say. Luke was silent listening to the stories the group was telling him and occasionally nodding to encourage them to continue.

*BEEP* The spray machine signalled that there was one more minute left for their call.

"Oh I see." Luke said. "I wish I could be there. I'm afraid we can't help you guys from here. I'm glad Naruto's there to keep an eye on you guys. I hope my shoes are doing you some good. It would make me feel better if they helped you."

"Oh…uh, yeah!" Percy stammered trying not sound like he was lying. "Yeah, it helped a lot, especially with that fight with Medusa."

"Really?" Luke grinned. "They fit you and everything?"

"Yeah it had–"

He didn't get to finish. The water shut off and the mist evaporated. Naruto, then, entered the stall where his friends were with a huge grin on his face and a familiar gleam in his eyes.

"So, what did I miss?" Naruto asked.

Annabeth explained what Luke had told them.

"We got to finish this quest before they kill each other back at camp." Naruto sighed.

At that, all four of their stomachs growled as if saying 'Hey! Fill me up!"

The four of them gave out a chuckle at what happened.

"Come on!" Naruto urged. "Let's get something to eat."

* * *

**AT SOME DINER NOT FAR FROM THE CARWASH**

Not long after their chat with Luke at the carwash, they found a diner where they could eat. All around them were a bunch of families eating burgers and sipping on sodas and malts.

They had to wait a while for the waiters to get to them.

"What did you do back at the carwash? I could imagine the owner of that car would be hard to persuade to keep down the music." Annabeth asked while waiting for a waitress to get to them.

"Well…"

*FLASHBACK*

Naruto entered the carwash stall with a Lincoln Continental was parked. Two guys who looked older than Naruto were in the stall. One was feeding coins into the spray machine while the other was waiting at the car bobbing his head to the beats of the music.

"Uhh… Excuse me." Naruto had to shout that for the guys to hear.

"What do you want brat?" The guys at the spray machine asked with irritation.

"Could you turn off the music just tad bit?"

"Get lost kid, and mind your own business."

Naruto simply shook his head.

"Yo Brad! What's the hold up?! Hurry up with the water!" The guy on the shotgun seat called out.

Brad turned back to his friend to answer him. "Just a sec Jack. Some snot-nosed brat doesn't know when to keep his nose out of other people's business."

He turned back to Naruto. "Go, get out of here if you know what's good for you."

"I ain't leaving till you turn down the music." Naruto said back.

"You're playing with fire kid." Brad warned.

"If you're trying to be intimidating, then you're looking like a cute little cute kitten right now." Naruto taunted back.

"Why you little–"

Brad decided to attack. He sent a punch aimed at Naruto's face. The blonde simply raised his hand to catch the punch.

"Really now? You punch like a girl." Naruto said as he raised his other hand to stifle a yawn.

Brad growled. He sent a left hook with his other hand.

Naruto tilted his head back, dodging the punch. He, then, kneed Brad in the gut causing him to spew blood from his mouth. He let him go, and Brad fell to the ground.

From his seat on the shotgun side of the car, Jack turned around to see the commotion. He saw Brad falling to the ground clutching his stomach.

Jack sighed. "Must I bail you out every time?"

He, then, got out of the car and made his way to the blonde.

"I suggest you walk away." Jack taunted as he brandished a switchblade.

An idea stuck its way into Naruto's brain.

"I haven't tried this in a long time." He mumbled to himself.

"What did you say?" Jack said in an irritated tone.

"Oh nothing." Naruto said as he raised right hand into half ram seal. **"TRANSFORM!"**

Jack stood back in shock as, right in front of him, stood a woman like what you would describe as an FHM model. Jack slowly dropped his switchblade. His cheeks coloured and a drop of blood dripped from his nose.

"Wh-what–" He stammered.

"P-please don't l-look at me like that. I-I'm shy." The girl in front of him said cutely.

After that, he dropped to the ground mumbling something about girls and hooking up.

In a puff of smoke, the girl disappeared and in her place was Naruto clutching his stomach as he was laughing.

"In every world, this jutsu works every time." He said in between laughs.

On his feet, Brad groaned. It turns out, he too had passed out.

Naruto broke into a grin.

He positioned both boys like they were hooking up in the car, and after that, changed the music into a song he heard on the radio that his teacher back at Yancy was playing. (Careless whisper, was it?) He also lowered the volume so that only the two were able to hear the music.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

"Yeah, something like that…" Naruto said.

His friends were about to comment when the waiter finally came over to them.

"Well?" She said with an eyebrow raised.

"We, um, want to order dinner." Percy said.

"You kids have money to pay for it?" The waitress asked sceptically.

Percy was silent for a few seconds. It seemed like he was thinking of another sob story to tell the waitress like he did back at Aunty Em's/Medusa's lair.

"Well–" He began.

He was interrupted when a rumble shook the building. Everyone in the diner looked out to see what was happening. A huge motorcycle about the size of a baby elephant pulled over at the curb. Its headlights were glaring red on the diner's windows. The gas tank had flame designs painted on it, and it even came with a shotgun holster. Its seat was leather, but it looked like it came from human skin.

The owner of the bike dismounted and everyone was able to get a good view of who it was. He had a muscular build that made pro wrestlers look like fat guy in comparison. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt, black jeans, and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wore red, wraparound shades and his hair was sporting an oily-black crew cut. His face looked cruel and brutal, and his cheeks were cut like it had been in a lot of fights. Unbeknownst to the Naruto and Percy, this was Ares.

Ares walked into the diner, and a hot dry wind blew through the place. Everyone in the diner, except for Naruto and his friends, rose as if they were hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again.

The waitress blinked. "You kids have money to pay for it?" She asked again as if a rewind button was pressed on her.

"It's on me." The biker said as he slid into the booth beside Annabeth shoving both blondes against the window.

When Ares was seated, he noticed that the waitress was still standing by their table. "Are you still here?" He said.

He shooed the waitress away. She stiffened and turned around as if she was spun around, then marched towards the kitchen.

Percy was looked like was about to explode in anger. Grover noticed that Naruto was shaking himself. In a blink of an eye, he saw that the blonde's eyes flickered from sapphire blue to crimson red. He wanted to ask, but decided not to, in respect to the god who was with them.

He gave looked at Naruto, then at Percy, and a wicked grin broke into his mouth.

"So, you must be Arty's kid and you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?" He said.

"What's it to you?" Percy said as if he was talking to Smelly Gabe.

Annabeth flashed his a look of warning. "Percy, this is–"

**END OF CHAPTER**

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for not posting in a while guys. I had to get ready for graduation and immediately after that, I had to get ready to study for exams to get into a good college. Currently, I am still studying and I don't know if I would be able to write some chapters. But rest assured I would continue the story when I have the time, though I would be slowed down.**

**Thanks for the feedback from last chapter. I will take them into account when I write about what Naruto would get for beating the Chimera. It would come out in future chapters.**

**Don't forget to leave and review. **

**Till next time.**


	16. The War God's Request

**Chapter 16**

**HI GUYSSSS! I'M BACK! **

**THAT WAS A LOOOONG TWO MONTHS. ALONG THE WAY, I WAS TEMPTED TO CONTINUE WRITING THE STORY, BUT MY OLDER BROTHER KEPT REMINDING ME TO JUST STUDY IF I REALLY WANTED TO GET A HIGHER RATING. **

**SO HERE I AM! **

**NOW ON TO THE STORY…**

* * *

"Percy, this is – "

"S'okay." The biker said. "I don't mind the attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am little, little cousin?"

Percy took a good look at him. He knew he had seen that vicious sneer somewhere. Then, it hit him.

"You're Clarisse's dad!" He said "Ares, the god of war."

"On point little cousin," the biker grinned and took off his sunglasses. In his eye sockets, there were fires glowing like small nuclear explosions instead of eyes.

"I saw you break Clarisse's spear over on Hephaestus TV." He continued.

"She was…"

"You're Ares!" Naruto shouted as he was broken from his 'split personality.' "I was expecting you to look like the Ares in the God of War games."

"What?" Ares didn't know what to say at the blonde's comment.

Annabeth hit Naruto with his shoulder while the other two were stifling their laughter.

"Ow!" Naruto said. "I was just pointing it out."

The god of war was able to gather his composure and cleared his throat. "Well, they don't always get us right, do they little nephew?"

"Uhh yeah… I guess so…"

At that moment, the waitress came back with heaping trays of cheese burgers, onion rings, fries, and chocolate shakes. The demigods' eyes lit up at the sight of the food, but Naruto didn't seem satisfied and said, "I don't suppose you have any ramen here?"

"I'm afraid not young man." The waitress shook her head.

"Oh… thanks anyway, ma'am." Naruto replied.

"It's so hard to find ramen here…" He grumbled to himself.

"Here," Ares handed the waitress a few golden drachmas.

"But, these aren't…" The waitress tried to complain.

Ares snapped his fingers, "Look again." He said.

"Oh I am sorry, sir." She apologized and excused herself.

"You can't just…" Percy tried to say, but Grover covered his mouth and said, "L-lord Ares, to what do we owe this meeting?"

"I'm here to give you squirts a proposition. I need you to do me a favour."

Percy pushed off Grover's hand and asked, "What favour could we do for a god."

"Nothing much. Just something a god doesn't have time to do himself. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on, er, a date with my girlfriend, when we were interrupted, and I wasn't able to get my shield. I want you kids to fetch it for me."

"Why should we?" Naruto said as his eyes flashed from red to blue. "We're already on a quest."

Ares looked at him with amusement. The blonde was slowly getting affected by the god of war's aura again. "So the rumours are true. You really are a Jinchuuriki. No wonder pops is afraid of you."

Percy instantly recognized the word. He remembered Echidna mention the word back at the Arch. The others, on the other hand, were surprised at the new word they heard.

"What's he talking about, Naruto?" Percy asked.

Naruto ignored him. "If we get that shield, what's in it for us?"

"I know all about your quest, punk. When the item was stolen, he sent out his best out lookin' for it: Me, Athena, Arty, Apollo, you get the drill. If we couldn't sniff it out, I doubt you punks will. And as I can see, you're out of supplies."

"We're doing fine on our own." Naruto said, while his friends just stared at him.

"Yeah, right. As far as I see, you got no money, no wheels, no clue what you're up against. If I hadn't come to bail you out with that waitress, you'd be screwed. Come on, on just help me out, and I'll tell you something about a certain Sally Jackson." He proposed.

The boys perked up at the mention of Sally's name.

"Mom?"

"Aunt Sally?"

Ares grinned. "That got your attention. The water park is a mile west of Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the tunnel of love."

"Naruto, we have to…" Percy pleaded.

"Fine…" Naruto relented with gritted teeth. "Just know that I'm not doing this for Aunt Sally, not for you."

"Whatever, punk." Ares shrugged. "I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me."

The group went out of the diner leaving Ares at the table.

"Not good." Grover bleated. "This is not good. Ares sought you out."

They looked back at the table. Ares was gone, so was his motorcycle.

"This is stupid…" Naruto complained. "Why do we have to listen to that jerk?"

"Look Naruto, as much as I hate Ares, we can't ignore the gods unless you want some really bad fortune. I mean, he could turn you into a rodent if he wanted too." Annabeth said.

"Plus, he knows something about my mom. We can't let that go." Percy added.

Naruto sighed. "Okay, okay… Let's just go."

* * *

**AT THE WATERPARK**

The group begrudgingly made their way to the water park. By the time they made it to their destination, the sun was already sinking behind the mountains. Judging by the sign, the water park had once been named **WATERLAND**, but due to aging, some letters were already smashed off so it read **WAT R A D.**

The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, there were huge dry waterslides, tubes, and pipes, curled everywhere leading to empty pools. Old tickets fluttered everywhere across the place. The scenery told the demigods that a substantial amount of time had passed since there were people here. When you add the setting sun to all of this, the place looked creepy.

"If Ares takes his girlfriend here for a date, I hate to see what she looks like." Percy commented.

Annabeth and Grover looked at their clueless friend.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you." Grover said.

"Why? What's the problem?" Percy asked.

"Percy, you don't want to insult Ares' girlfriend. She can be, uhh, temperamental."

"Who?" Percy asked, still clueless.

"Aphrodite's his girlfriend, right?" Naruto said.

The other two nodded.

"But I thought she was married with the blacksmith god." Percy said. "Umm, Hephaestus, right?"

"That's a story for another time. I think you don't want to know anyway" Annabeth said. "Plus, we have a side quest don't we?"

"Fine," Percy relented. "How do we get in?"

"MAIA!" Grover's shoes sprouted wings making him fly over the fence, did an unexpected somersault and stumbled to a landing on the other side.

Percy and Annabeth were about to climb when Naruto called out to them. "Wait!"

"What?" They asked.

Naruto held out his hand and formed a mini-rasengan on his palm, and slammed it on the lock destroying it. He opened the gate and the three entered the compound.

They took one good look around before beginning their search. There were absurd names for rides like Ankle Biter Island, Head over Wedgie, and Dude, Where's my swimsuit? The names almost made Naruto want to crack up. Almost.

No monsters came out to get them. Nothing made even the slightest noise.

They found a souvenir shop that was still open. Surprisingly, it wasn't cleared of merchandise before the waterpark closed down. there were snow globes, pencils, post cards, and racks of–

"Finally! Some clothes." Annabeth said. "Fresh clothes."

"Yeah," Percy said. "But you can't just–"

"Watch me."

Annabeth snatched a whole rack of clothes and disappeared into the changing room. The boys shrugged and did the same.

A few minutes later, the group came out looking like walking advertisements for the defunct theme park. Before leaving, they didn't forget to pack extra clothes in the Waterland bags that they also found in the store.

They got out of the store and continued looking for the shield. Eventually, they made it to an empty pool that looked like a turn pike now that it was empty. It was at least 50 yards across and was shaped like a bowl.

Around the rim, there were dozens of cupids standing guard with wings spread and ready to fire. On the opposite side, a tunnel opened up, which the group figured where the water flowed into when the pool was full. The sign above it read, **THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS TUNNEL OF LOVE!**

Grover crept to the edge, "Guys, look."

Right at the bottom of the bowl shaped pool was a pink two-seater boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted over it.

"Easy," Percy said. "Come on!"

"Too easy." Naruto added. "These cupid statues are looking awfully suspicious."

"I agree." Annabeth nodded.

She ran her fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid Statue. "There's a Greek letter carved here. Eta. I wonder…"

"Grover, you smell any monsters?" Percy asked.

He sniffed the wind. "Nothing."

"Nothing-like, in-the-Arch-and-you-didn't-smell-Echidna-nothing, or really-nothing?"

Grover looked hurt.

Before the satyr could answer, Naruto knocked on Percy's head. "Cut him some slack Percy."

"Yeah Percy. That was underground remember?" Grover added.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Percy apologized.

"I'm going down there." Annabeth volunteered. "If this were some kind of machine, maybe I could figure it out."

"I'll go with you." Grover offered trying to make up for what happened in St. Louis, but he didn't sound enthusiastic.

"No." Percy told him. "I want you to stay up here with Naruto. You guys could get us out in a jiffy when something goes wrong."

Naruto looked a little jealous, so he just joked. "Wow, Percy! Making a move already, are we?"

Annabeth and Percy realized the situation, so both of them turned tomato red.

"N-n-no, i-it's not like t-that." Percy stammered, while the other two boys were beginning to crack up.

Annabeth immediately decided to back out, but Percy was already on his way down the ladder. "Wait, wait. I can't do this."

"What now?" Percy asked.

"Me… go with you to the… the 'Thrill Ride of Love'? How is embarrassing is that? What if someone saw me?" Annabeth said.

Snickers were heard from the boys waiting on top.

"This place is empty. We're the only ones here. Who else could see you?" Percy countered.

"Fine… Seaweed Brain… Thrill ride of love…" She mumbled to herself.

"_Way to make it more complicated guys…" _Percy thought.

The duo made it on the boat. The shield was propped up on one of the seats. Next to it was a lady's scarf. Up close, the two could see a mirror wrapped around the whole rim of the pool facing the boat.

Percy picked up the scarf, and the smell of perfume permeated his nose. He smiled, a dreamy smile, brought it up to his face. Before he could rub it on his cheek, Annabeth grabbed it out his hand and stuffed it in her pocket.

"Oh no you don't. Stay away from that love magic." She scolded.

"What?"

"Oh, just get the shield, Seaweed Brain, and let's get out of here."

* * *

**WITH NARUTO AND GROVER**

Back at the top of the pool, Naruto was observing the area for obvious traps. Annabeth's embarrassments made her forget to check the area for traps.

"They're still arguing?" Grover commented.

Naruto chuckled at the satyr's comment.

The blonde began noticing something wrong with the scene of the boat. Thin areas in front of the boat seemed to shimmer like the wires that shinobi used, only it was gold.

He saw Percy about to grab for the shield, so he tried to warn him. "Percy! Wait, no!"

It was too late. Percy already grabbed the shield.

* * *

**WITH PERCY AND ANNABETH**

As Percy grabbed the shield, Annabeth heard an audible snap, like a wire was cut.

"Oh no! It's a trap!" she said.

"You were supposed to check for traps." Percy scolded.

"Shut up! It's too late now."Annabeth said in defense.

Another Greek letter glowed on the boat. Noise erupted around them, like a million gears grinding, as if the whole pool was a giant machine.

The cupid statue drew their bows into a firing position. Percy was about to suggest to get down, when the cupids fired, but not at them. They fired at each other, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables trailed from the arrows, arcing over the pool and anchoring where they landed to form an asterisk.

"This can't be good." Naruto mumbled.

"Guys!" Grover yelled from across the room.

"We have to get out of here!" Percy yelled at Annabeth.

"Well, duh!" Annabeth yelled back.

Both of them ran towards their friend.

Grover was trying to open a section for their friends. Likewise, Naruto tried cutting the wire, but the wire was enchanted and kept wrapping back together.

"LIVE TO OLYMPUS IN ONE MINUTE… 59 SECONDS… 58 SECONDS…"

"Where'd that come from?" Percy asked.

All around them, the Cupids' heads opened revealing cameras pointed at the car where the shield was.

"Of course!" Annabeth screamed in realization.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Hephaestus," the daughter of Athena continued. "The Eta is H in Greek. I'm so stupid. He must've set up this trap for Ares and his wife. We're about to look like fools."

They almost made it to the rim of the pool, but Annabeth stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the familiar pitter patter of little legs.

The mirrors around the pool opened like hatches which revealed thousands of tiny metallic spiders poured out.

As soon as she saw them, she screamed.

"S-s-s-spidersssss!" Annabeth said. "Sp-sp-sp-aaaah!"

"Oh no." Naruto said.

Percy and Annabeth had to retreat back to the boat. Well, for Annabeth, she was more of dragged to the boat car, since she was frozen in fear.

"Argh." Naruto complained. "This is getting nowhere."

The blonde quickly made the necessary hand signs and breathed in deeply.

"WIND STYLE: WIND SCYTHE JUTSU!"

A sharp wind blew towards the net cutting it to pieces. The wind was able to slice through the net.

"15… 14…"

At the exact moment, Percy was able to summon water from the pipes washing away the spiders. That the water was working well, and was dragging the boat away in the current towards the exit. The only problem is there was no way to stop the boat. They were going to slam into wall outside.

"Grover, the switch!" Naruto ordered as he jumped in the pool and ran for the boat without waiting for Grover to answer.

"Hey there!" Naruto greeted his friends as he got there. "Hang on tight!"

"3… 2… 1…" The cupid cameras were now rolling

Grover raised his hands from the control panel signalling he tried every button in the control panel.

"Damn it! This thing isn't working." Naruto complained

The water in the pool rose to the point that they were almost at the level of the net. Percy followed his gut feeling and concentrated on the boat controlling it to ride the current. Surprisingly, the boat was responding. Then, the boat turned towards the tunnel and they rocketed through the darkness.

Naruto held onto Annabeth. She was still shaking at the ordeal she had with the spiders. The boat hugged corners and plunged 45 degree plunges past a bunch of Valentine day stuff.

At the end of the ride, there were two other boats smashed upon a chained Gate of Love which led to the exit pool.

"We're gonna have to jump." Naruto suggested.

"Are you crazy?" Percy scolded.

"Unless you want to be smashed to pieces." The blonde pointed out.

Percy strapped the shield to his arm. The two of them readied for the jump.

"On my mark!" The two boys said at the same time.

"Fine! You do it!" Naruto relented.

Percy waited for the right moment. Just before they crashed, Percy shouted for them to jump the gate.

Naruto was able to clear the gates, but Percy wasn't as lucky. The son of Poseidon foot was caught in the gate making him fall face-first to the ground. Fortunately, Grover caught Percy through his shirt slowing their fall.

The demigods sat on the ground catching their breath. A hundred yards away from them, there were still cupid statues filming them. A grin made its way to Naruto's lips and he got up and walked to one of the cupid cameras.

"What're you…" Grover asked in between breaths but he was not able to finish.

"Ladies and gentlemen, gods and goddesses, thank you for tuning in. This show is made possible by Ares and his shield. Remember, if you want a good show, Ares is your go to god! Good night Olympus!"

After that, the cameras stopped rolling and retracted back into the statue. Even the lights shut off.

Percy, Annabeth and Grover just looked at each other and burst out into laughter.

"Come on guys. We got a shield to return." Annabeth said as soon as the round of laughter was over.

* * *

**BACK AT THE DINER **

"Well, well, well," Ares greeted the demigods when they arrived. "You didn't get yourself killed."

"Why do I get a feeling you knew it was a trap?" Naruto said with bipolar-like behaviour returning.

Ares gave out a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."

Percy shoved the shield at the war god, "Jerk!"

Annabeth and Grover caught their breath.

Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air. It changed form as it spun, melting into a bulletproof vest and slung it across his back.

"See that truck over their?" He pointed to an 18-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas.

The truck had a sign on its back saying: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT

"You're kidding." Percy said.

Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job."

He slung a blue nylon backpack off his motorcycle's handlebars and tossed it to Percy.

Looking inside, the demigods saw fresh clothes, 20 bucks in cash, a pouch full of drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.

"We don't want you lous–"

"Thank you Lord Ares," Grover said as he placed a hand on Percy's mouth. "Thanks a lot."

Percy gritted his teeth. It was hard for him to accept something from the war god, not after what they went through because of him. He also knew that his aggression was due to his presence, reminding him of every bully he ever faced: Nancy Bobofit, Clarisse, Smelly Gabe, teachers from every school he got expelled from.

"You owe me one more thing." Percy demanded, trying to keep his voice calm. "You promised me information about my mother."

While Percy was talking with the war god, Annabeth noticed Naruto's ordeal and placed a hand on his shoulder after seeing him in his condition. That and the mention of Sally made the older blonde perk up and look ahead.

As he raised his head, he saw the waitress who served them earlier dragging the fry cook to the window and whispered something to the cook's ear. He held up a disposable camera and snapped a photo of them.

"Shit!" He said getting the son of Poseidon's attention.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"We're gonna make the papers again." The older blonde said while indirectly pointing at the window. The others followed his gaze.

They all sighed.

"So, my mother?" Percy said back to Ares.

"You sure you can handle the new?" The war god said.

"Just spill it." Naruto demanded.

"She's not dead." Ares said as he kick-started his motorcycle.

The ground seemed to spin beneath the two boys' feet.

"What?"

"What do you mean?"

They said at the same time."

"You saw her glow in a shimmer of golden light, right? That wasn't death. It was metamorphosis. She's being kept.

"Why?"

"A hostage… A bargaining chip…" It was Naruto who answered his question. "Whoever's keeping her wants to have the edge over us."

"Bingo! You've got to learn a thing or two from Blondie over here." Ares said to Percy.

"You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs away from Cupid statues." Percy countered.

Behind the war god's glasses, the fire seemed too glow hotter. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."

He revved his Harley, and then roared off down Delancy Street.

"That was not smart, Percy." Annabeth scolded.

"Ares is the last god you want to pick a fight with." Grover added.

"I don't care." Percy said.

"Uhh guys." Naruto called his friends' attention and pointed to the diner. "Our ride's about to leave."

At the register, the last two customers were paying their check, two men wearing identical coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the back of the truck.

Naruto made a run for the truck with his friends at his tail.

The moment the demigods entered the car, the first thing that hit them was the smell. It was like the world's biggest kitty litter.

It was pitch black at the back of the truck, so Percy had to uncap his sword to provide some lighting. The blade's faint bronze light revealed to the demigods a tear-jerking scene. In row of filthy cages were the most pathetic zoo animals the group has ever seen: a zebra, a male albino lion and is that an antelope? (I'm not sure).

Someone thought it was a good idea to give the lion a sack of turnips and a Styrofoam tray of hamburger meat were given to the zebra and antelope. The zebra's mane was streaked with chewing gum, like someone was spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid birthday balloon tied to one of its horns that read: OVER THE HILL.

It was apparent that no one wanted to go near the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing through his cage that was clearly too small for him and panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. Flies buzzed around the once proud animal and his ribs began to show pointing out his lack of nutrition.

"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?"

The satyr was about get out to beat up whoever was in charge of the truck and Percy looked like he was about to join him when the engine roared to life causing the trailer to shake. The shaking of the trailer made the demigods, save for Naruto, fall upon each other.

"Ow!" The three who fell shouted.

"Why are you still standing up?" Percy said to the older shinobi while he nursed his back side.

"Same principle as how I walked up the pillar in the dining pavillon." Naruto answered nonchalantly. "You guys okay?"

"We'll live." Annabeth answered.

* * *

**A FEW MINUTES LATER**

As the truck cruised through the highway, the demigods huddled together at the feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell, the heat and the flies. Grover and Naruto tried to make small talk with the animals, but they just stared at them blankly. Annabeth suggested breaking them free of the cages to free them, but Percy pointed out that it won't do any good until the truck stopped moving.

Naruto felt sorry for the animals, so he got up and headed towards the animals.

"What are you–, "Percy asked.

Naruto found a water jug and refilled their bowls, then dragged the mismatched food out of the cages. He gave the meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope.

Seeing their friend doing this made the remaining demigods get up to help Naruto. Grover calmed the antelope down while Annabeth cut the balloon off the antelope's antlers. Annabeth wanted to do the same with the zebra, but Percy pointed out that it was risky with the moving truck.

Grover and Naruto promised the animals that they'd help them in the morning, then the demigods settled in for the night.

* * *

**SO THAT'S IT! **

**ACTUALLY, I WAS DONE WITH THE EXAMS A WEEK AGO, BUT I HAD TO WRITE THE STORY FOR ABOUT A WEEK. **

**ANYWAYS THANK YOU FOR READING THE STORY WHILE I WAS AWAY. REGULAR UPLOADS WILL RESUME STARTING NOW. **

**BYE! SEE YOU AGAIN NEXT WEEK.**


	17. The Lotus Hotel

**Chapter 17**

The ride at the back of the truck felt like forever.

For our demigods, time seemed to flow differently when they didn't see what was going on outside. The only thing they could do was try to get as comfy as possible. Grover curled up on the bag of turnips. Annabeth sat beside some of the crates eating the Stuffed Oreos that Ares gave them. Naruto and Percy sat close to the daughter of Athena so they can get some of the food too.

"Uhh Guys!" Annabeth said out of the blue. "Sorry for freaking out at the water park."

All the others looked at her in direction.

"That's okay." Percy answered.

"It's just…" She shuddered. "Spiders… and I can't keep relying on you guys all the time. I mean, Naruto had to bail me out."

"That thing with the spiders…" Percy changed the subject. "It's because of Arachne, right? She challenged your mom to a weaving contest."

Annabeth nodded. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider even a mile away from me, it will find me. I hate those creepy little things. Anyway, thanks Naruto."

"That's what team mates are for remember?" Naruto said. "We got each other's back."

"Besides, we got Grover, the first flying goat." Percy added.

Annabeth let out a small smile, "Thanks guys…"

The whole time, the demigods thought their satyr friend was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, "I was pretty good wasn't I?"

A round of laughter came through the group.

"Oh yeah!" Percy exclaimed. "There was the term Ares said back at the diner… Echidna said it too… What was it again?"

"Jinchuuriki? Why?" Annabeth asked.

"Any idea what that means?" Percy asked.

Naruto , upon hearing the them talking about it, pretended to be asleep. He wasn't ready to tell his friends about it yet for fear that their attitude towards him would change.

"Let's ask Naruto." Annabeth suggested.

Naruto faked a snore to signify he was asleep. In his mind, he had his fingers crossed that his friends would buy it.

"Oh he's already asleep." Annabeth said.

The remaining three decided to talk about other stuff until they fell asleep.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes in a new location. He was in an alleyway somewhere he didn't know.

Hiding behind a dumpster was a group of demigods. One of them was a boy that looked like a younger version of Luke. The last one looked like a kid version of Annabeth. And the last one was a girl with shoulder length, spiky black hair, electric blue eyes and freckles across her nose.

Naruto found himself blushing when he saw the black-haired girl.

They seemed to be cooking some food. When Naruto took a whiff the food they were eating, his stomach grumbled. And so, he found himself walking to towards the group.

The older girl in the group saw Naruto walking towards them and drew a spear out of nowhere and aimed it at the blonde. The blonde was surprised at black-haired girl's actions and instinctively felt at his ankle to draw a kunai.

Fortunately, his pouch was there, so he drew a kunai, ducked under the spear and aimed the kunai under her chin. The girl's companions were startled by what happened and drew their weapons.

"I guess I'm faster than you." Naruto grinned.

"H-how did you..." The black haired girl stuttered.

"And I guess I'm outnumbered…" Naruto continued.

"Who are you? How did you find this place?" the boy who looked like Luke demanded.

"This is our home! You won't let us leave." The little Annabeth said.

"Relax…I won't hurt you." Naruto said raising both his hands. "I'm just an orphan looking for a place to spend the night. I thought this place was empty."

The three looked at each other and sheathed their weapons.

"You pretty good with that weird knife for an orphan." Thalia said. "What's your name?"

"The name's Naruto." He introduced himself. "Who are you guys?"

"I'm Thalia. Sorry for the outburst, we were just getting attacked lately.

"The name's Luke."

"I'm Annabeth."

"Pleased to meet you guys." Naruto said with a smile.

At that moment, Naruto's stomach grumbled aloud causing the whole group to burst out into laughter.

"Gee, I forgot I was getting hungry." Naruto excused himself.

"You're welcome to join us." Thalia offered.

"Thalia–" Luke tried to protest but Thalia cut him off.

"Are you sure?" Naruto said.

Thalia nodded.

"Hmmm…In return, maybe I could help you get more supplies." Naruto said.

"Sure."

The now bigger group enjoyed their meal while talking about their backgrounds. Naruto and Thalia kept looking at each other getting each other flustered, but the two of them hid it pretty well.

Suddenly, there was a banging sound coming from behind the dumpster, and then everything dissolved around them.

* * *

**THE NEXT DAY**

It was the morning of June 14, about a week left before the summer solstice.

Naruto opened his eyes again. This time he was in the back of the truck.

'_It was just a dream.' _He thought.

He didn't have time to think about it because he heard Grover shaking Percy's shoulder to wake him up. "The truck's stopped," he said as quietly as he said. "I think they're coming to check on the animals.

"Hide!" Annabeth hissed and put on her invisibility cap.

"Easy for her to say!" Percy complained.

"Just hide!" Naruto raised a half-ram seal and disappeared.

"Sheesh, these guys have it easy." He complained again, but quickly dove behind the feed sacks with Grover.

The trailer doors creaked open allowing the sunlight and heat to pour inside.

"What was that?" One of the trucker shuddered as he felt Annabeth brush accidentally brush against him.

He looked around for a bit, and then shrugged. "Hmmp, must've been the wind."

He turned back to the truck and complained, "Man!" he said, while swinging his hand in front of his nose. "I wish I hauled appliances!" He climbed inside and poured some water in the animals' dishes.

"You hot, big boy?" He teased the lion, then splashed the rest of water in the bucket the lion's face.

The lion roared in indignation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.

Percy had to hold Grover back because the satyr was going to assault the trucker.

The trucker, then threw a squashed happy meal box at the antelope. He smirked at the zebra and said, "How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You gonna love this one. They'll saw you in half!"

The zebra turned to Percy with fear evident in his eyes.

_Free me, Lord. Please! _

Percy heard clearly in his head. He was too stunned to react.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

A banging sound came from outside of the car. It must've been Annabeth.

"What do you want, Eddie?!" The trucker yelled, slightly annoyed.

A voice came out from the outside, "Maurice? What did you say?"

"What are you banging for?"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"What banging?"

Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at his partner.

Once he was out of the truck, Annabeth appeared next to Percy and said, "These guys can't be legal."

"No kidding," Grover said. He paused as if listening to the animals talking, "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers."

_That's right. _Percy heard in his mind.

"We've got to free them!" Grover said. He and Annabeth looked to Percy since he was the leader of the quest.

_Open my cage, Lord. Please. I'll be fine after that._

Percy was still in thought. He was wondering why he understood the zebra, but not the lion.

Naruto placed a hand on Percy's shoulder. "Come on Percy. He is calling out to you."

"Right…" Percy said.

The older blonde turned to the whole group. "Okay guys, pick a cage and open the locks."

Outside, the two truckers were still arguing and throwing curses at each other.

The team then picked their respective cages. Naruto picked the lion's cage, since the others were scared of it. Percy picked the zebra's cage, since the zebra was calling out to him. Grover picked the antelope's cage, while telling the animals not to flee just yet after the cage was open. Lastly, Annabeth scoured the place for any other animal that might have been hidden.

Surprisingly, she found a smaller cage tucked in the innermost part of the truck. Inside it, there was a wolf pup snoring in the corner.

Once the animals were free, the zebra, in particular, turned to Percy and bowed, while the other animals waited for Grover's cue.

The satyr held up his hand and said something in a series of bleats.

As soon as Grover was done, Maurice poked his head back inside to check on the animals, but the zebra leaped over him and into the street. Outside, the demigods could hear people yelling and screaming, and cars honking.

Maurice was about to turn and chase after it, when Naruto threw one of the food bowls at the trucker, knocking him out cold. Eddie started chasing the zebra, but the police were hot on his tails.

"Oops," He said scratching the back of his head. "Threw it too hard."

"Let's get out of here." Annabeth said.

The demigods jumped of the trucks and ran to a sidewalk and began walking like nothing happened. From what Naruto could tell, it looks like they were in Las Vegas.

"Will the animals be okay?" Percy asked Grover. "I mean, the desert and all–"

"Don't worry; I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them." The satyr explained.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," he said. "They'll find food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live."

"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?"

"It only works on wild animals."

"So it would only affect Percy?" Annabeth joked.

"That's a good one!" Naruto chuckled.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

"Only kidding," Annabeth said still laughing.

They continued walking through the streets of Las Vegas. It was easily 110 degrees, and the demigods were sweating a lot which added to the filth that they got from the truck. It was a good thing that everyone was focused on the escaped animals to care about them.

"Any of you guys have an idea where we are?" Naruto asked.

His three friends shook their heads.

"This is the first time we've been here too, so your guess is as good as mine." Percy said while the others nodded.

"More importantly, we need another way west." Annabeth said.

"But we have a week left before the solstice, right?" Grover asked.

"Yeah, but unless we find another ride west, we're stuck here and out." Naruto explained.

The demigods wandered aimless through the streets, not knowing where they were going. They passed the different sights, like the Monte Carlo, the MGM. They saw pyramids, a pirate ship, and the Statue of Liberty, which was pretty small, but that was enough to make the teens homesick.

Eventually, they must have made a wrong turn because they were at a dead end.

In front of them, there was a building. Over to the side of the main entrance, the sign read as: LOTUS HOTEL AND CASINO. The entrance was a huge neon flower, and the petals are lighting up and blinking. No one was entering or exiting the building, but the door was open, so that the air-conditioning was spilling out into the street. For some reason, it smelled like a lotus flower, not that any of them had smelled one before.

The doorman saw them coming and called out, "Hey kids! You look tired. You want to come inside and sit down?"

At first, Percy and the others were sceptical about trusting the doorman. I mean, they've been attacked by monsters ever since they left Camp. Though, it didn't help that they were hot, hungry and itching to change clothes.

"It wouldn't hurt to check it out." Percy reasoned. "We got a week left and not to mention the long day we had."

Naruto still looked sceptical, but his mind was debating if they should stay there even just for a day. His growling tummy surely didn't help in his decision making.

"One day should be just fine." Grover said.

"We could use the rest." Annabeth added.

"Guys…" Naruto tried to reason. "We don't have any money."

"Oh, don't worry about that." The doorman explained. "The bill's already been taken care of, no extra charges, no tips needed."

"We should really get–" He tried to say, but was interrupted by his growling stomach\

"If you guys are hungry, you should try our newly added restaurant." The doorman offered. "It's called Ichiraku."

That did it for Naruto. His mind instantly decided to take up the offer of the doorman.

"DID I HEAR YOU RIGHT?" Naruto exclaimed when he heard the golden word.

"Yes sir, Ichiraku Ramen." The door man replied.

"Let's go then. But guys, just for a day, alright?" The blonde finally relented.

The demigods walked through the door. Upon taking a look inside, all they could say was "Whoa!"

They saw a lobby that was a giant game room with just about every game from every generation, hundreds of them, basically any you can name, connected to a wide screen TV. There was a giant waterslide snaking around a glass elevator, which went up about 40 floors. There was climbing wall at the side of the building, and an indoor bungee jumping bridge. There were virtual reality suits with working laser guns.

Surprisingly, there were only a handful of kids playing. This meant that there was no waiting in line for games. The only other people there were the waitresses manning snack bars and others were distributing food.

At the corner of Naruto's eye, he saw a sign which read, THIS WAY TO ICHIRAKU RAMEN. The blonde marched his way in that direction, but a bell hop called for his attention.

"Hey!" The bellhop said. "Welcome to Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."

"But, we didn't book a room here." Naruto said.

"We have rooms already prepared for everyone. Just go to room 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubble baths or skeet targets for the shooting range, just call the front desk. Our number is by the phone up in your room. Before I forget, here are your LotusCash Cards. They work in the restaurants and all the games and rides."

He handed each of them a green plastic card.

"How much is in here?" Percy asked.

"What do you mean?" The bellhop gave him a quizzical look.

"I mean, when does it run out of cash?"

The bellhop laughed. "That's funny. Cool! Anyway, enjoy your stay."

Percy just shrugged it off and went to the elevator with his friends and took it upstairs with his friends. Their room was a suite with four separate bedrooms, each with bars stocked with sodas, candies and chips. Each of the bedrooms had a hotline service, fluffy towels and water beds with feather pillows. There were big-screen televisions with satellite and high-speed Internet in each room.

The balcony had its own hot tub and a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, just as the bellhop had said. Naruto tried one of the guns and shot a pigeon out of the sky, which crashed into a car down below. Finally, the view over the Strip and the desert was amazing.

"Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is…"

"Awesome!" the three boys simultaneously screamed.

The demigods called dibs on which room they wanted, and they broke off into their respective rooms for a shower and a change of clothes. Percy, who was carrying Ares' backpack, threw it in the trash can by the door before going to his room

When Naruto was done showering, he opened his closet. Surprisingly, inside were a bunch of orange clothes with some like the ones he once wore back in the Leaf. It made him miss home. Even the lotus smell of the hotel didn't help with that problem.

After putting on his clothes, he went out into the main room. When he opened his door, Annabeth also opened her door and was about to exit her room.

They stared at each other for about a minute or so before Naruto broke the silence.

"Uhh, y-you look good by the way." Naruto complimented.

Upon hearing that, Annabeth got flustered and looked away. "T-thanks. Y-you look good too." She stuttered.

They sat by the main couch. Annabeth took the remote and turned on the TV and tuned in to National Geographic. Naruto just sat there watching what Annabeth was watching. He didn't know why, but he felt like he swallowed something weird.

A few minutes later Grover was out of his room, followed by Percy a little later.

"Of all the channels to watch," Percy said. "You turn it to National Geographic. Are you insane?"

"It's interesting." Annabeth said.

"I love this place." Grover said mid-chew.

"You guys wanna check out the lobby?" Naruto offered. The others raised their head from what they were doing and gave Naruto an excited look.

The four of them raised their Cash Cards and yelled, "Let's go!"

* * *

Back down at the lobby, the group stared at the different games to play and food to eat.

"So what are you guys gonna do first?" Percy asked them.

Naruto screamed. "Ramen."

The others screamed and ran towards the games they wanted to play.

Naruto ran towards the Ramen stand to quench his long time hunger for ramen. He stepped inside. The stand was very similar to the stand back in the Leaf Village, but it was far bigger. Like in the original stand, there was a counter with stools for those who came alone. Throughout the whole store, there were tables scattered for those who came with a companion.

No one was eating at the moment, so he went to the counter and took a seat.

"No way!" He said in awe. "It's just like home."

"Hi there! May I take your order, sir?" said a voice from the counter.

"A bowl of miso ramen please." Naruto ordered, then handed his cash card.

"Will that be all, sir?" The waitress asked.

"That will be all." Naruto answered. "For now…" His voice trailed off with a small chuckle right after.

The waitress nodded and turned to the kitchen and headed inside. The blonde took one more look around.

A few minutes later, the waitress came out holding a bowl of ramen on a tray

"One bowl of miso ramen coming up." The waitress said.

"Wow!" Naruto said with stars in his eyes. "It looks like how they serve it back home, and the aroma is there too."

He took a sip of the broth. "IT TASTES EXACTLY LIKE THE ONE FROM BACK HOME!"

"I'm glad you like it sir." The waitress said.

"If I may ask, where is this place based on?" Naruto inquired.

"Oh, this place is based is based from a ramen stand from somewhere far away."

"From where?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me; I've seen pretty weird stuff already."

"Well, the original location of this ramen stand is based in the Elemental Nations, from the Leaf Village.

"Who opened it?"

"Well, Lady Hebe, of course."

"WAIT…"

*FLASHBACK*

"Thanks for the treat again, Iruka sensei. You're the best!" A young Naruto exclaimed as he slurped his ramen.

"No problem, Naruto. We have to celebrate your promotion to chunin." Iruka said.

"You better be prepared, Naruto. Being chunin means there will be more responsibilities on your shoulders now."

"I know Iruka sensei. It sucks that I don't get to be as free as before. Or sleep in your class as I did back at the Academy."

Both of them laughed at the last part.

As the two were talking, a beautiful woman in a bright red dress that stood out from the rest of the citizens came up to the stand. The male customers' noses bled, including Iruka and Naruto, at the sight of the lady.

"One bowl of your best ramen, please." The woman said in an almost sultry voice.

"C-coming right up!" Teuchi, the owner said.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

"THAT WAS HER!?"Naruto exclaimed as he remembered.

"Oh you're from there?" The waitress asked.

Naruto nodded. "I'm not exactly from around here. I've seen her couple of times, but I haven't paid her much attention."

"I see. She loved the place and the food when she visited there. When she left, she was pretty sad about leaving the food, so she brought it back here with her."

As Naruto and the waitress talked and for the next hour, the bowls kept piling up to inhuman levels.

"_Where does all this stuff go?"_ The waitress and the customers who came in thought.

"_Good thing, the cash card has unlimited cash or else we'd be very broke right now." _Naruto thought as he remembered the time Jiraya escaped from him after promising to pay for his ramen.

* * *

About a couple or maybe 10 bowls of ramen later, the blonde decided that he had had his fill of his favourite food in the world.

"That was amazing!" Naruto said aloud.

"Wow! Cool!" A voice came from behind him.

Naruto turned around.

Standing behind him was an olive skinned boy with shaggy black hair. This boy was holding some kind of card game.

"That's a lot of ramen you ate, Mister!" The boy said in awe.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, you never know when you get to eat something this delicious again."

"That's true! This ramen is super delicious!" The boy agreed.

"We could definitely get along. What's your name?" Naruto asked.

"I'm Nico. What's yours?" the boy answered.

"The name's Naruto. Pleased to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too!"

Naruto noticed the card game that Nico was holding. He recognized some of the pictures on the cards. They were pictures of the gods with different numbers written. This piqued his interest.

"What's that you got there?" The blonde asked.

"Mythomagic, it's a card game. Wanna play?" Nico offered.

"Sure. Why not?"

And so Nico showed Naruto his card game and even taught him how to play. The blonde quickly got a hang of the game and already beat the younger boy after a couple of games. (Okay, maybe his luck might have played a part in theat.)

A few games later, a girl who had the same olive green complexion as Nico, black eyes and dark silky hair covered with a floppy green hat entered the ramen shop. She looked around the shop and saw Nico and Naruto playing. She blushed a bit when he saw the blonde.

She shook herself back to reality and went on to scold the younger boy.

"Nico! What did I tell you about bothering people while they were eating?" she scolded.

Naruto looked up and lagged for a bit when he saw the girl.

"Uh…uh...it's fine, miss…" Naruto said.

"But I'm not bothering him!" Nico whined.

The girl gave the younger boy a 'we'll talk about this later' look, and then turned to Naruto. "Sorry if my brother bothered you. My name's Bianca."

"I'm Naruto. And no, Nico didn't bother me at all. He's good company." Naruto introduced himself.

They shook hands as they introduced themselves to each other.

"_His hand is warm…" _Bianca thought.

"_She's kinda cute…" _Naruto thought.

The two found themselves staring at each other.

Nico cleared his throat to get the attention of the both of them. This caused the two to blush and immediately look away to shake their feeling off.

"N-nico, you said you wanted to try the waterslide." Bianca stuttered.

"Oh yeah! Naruto, wanna join us?" Nico offered.

"I think I would pass. I still have to find my friends." Naruto politely declined.

Bianca was bummed out by that. She was hoping to spend more time with the blonde.

"Aww. See you around then, Naruto!" Nico bid goodbye.

"Bye guys. See you around." Naruto replied.

Naruto and Bianca had one last look at each other and smiled before the latter left with her brother.

TO BE CONTINUED


	18. Getting closer

**Chapter 18**

The Lotus Hotel and Casino treated our demigods pretty well. After days of running around places (not to mention not showering), they have finally had time to relax and enjoy themselves just for a day. Or that's what they thought…

The demigods were in awe as they entered the Hotel. It was the first time for all of them to enter a place this grand. The four of them separated right after they left the room. Percy wanted to try the giant waterslide snaking through the different floors of the hotel. Annabeth tried different trivia and puzzle video games, but she ultimately settled on a 3D SIMS game. Finally, Grover had his eyes glued on some kind of reverse hunter game where the deer were hunting humans.

Naruto, after tiring the ramen chef in the Hotel's own Ichiracku Ramen, decided to try the other sights and amenities that the place had to offer. The only problem is that there was this nagging feeling in the back of his head that something was wrong or that there was something that he had to do. He couldn't place his mind to it, like he was slowly forgetting about it.

Right in another part of the Hotel, the blonde made it to the Casino. He knew that he won't be able play as he is now. _"I always wanted to know what Grandma Tsunade gets when she plays stuff like this." _He thought.

With a mischievous grin and half-ram seal, he transformed into one of the adults who angrily left the Casino after losing big time.

The only money in his pockets was the money Ares had given them from the quest for the shield. He really didn't want to leave the money in the room no matter how safe the staff says it is. He doubted that it would be enough for the poker tables, so he tried his luck with the slot machines first.

The blonde took a seat in front of one of the slot machines, and dropped a quarter inside the machine. With fingers crossed, he pulled the lever and waited for what would happen.

All heads turned to him when the machine made a loud noise and coins started to pour out of it.

"_She would be sooo jealous" _He thought as he chuckled to himself.

This went on for a few minutes until he got enough to join the poker tables.

* * *

**ONE HOUR LATER**

The still disguised Naruto studied his opponents carefully. There were only three of them left on the high stakes table. One guy had a huge smirk as the first three cards were dealt. The other was trying to hide his nervousness, seeing that his cards weren't good enough to play.

The dealer placed a Queen of Hearts, a 10 of Spades, and a Jack of Hearts.

"Check." All three of them said.

The last two cards were slowly placed on the table, a 10 of Hearts and a 2 of Clubs. One already folded seeing that his cards had no chance of winning. The only ones left in the game was a guy wearing what you would call dad jeans and a denim jacket and a loose t-shirt and of course Naruto.

Naruto pushed all his chips into the pot, earning gasps from the crowd..

"Getting overconfident, are we?" the older man smirked wider as he pushed his chips towards the pot as well.

Naruto remained unnerved.

"Okay, reveal your hands." The dealer announced.

The older man slammed his cards, which were the two remaining 10 cards from the deck, on the table. "Four of a kind. Game over, hoser." He then proceeded to pull the whole pot to his side of the table.

"Not so fast." The disguised blonde cleared his throat and revealed his hand, a King of Hearts and an Ace of Hearts.

The older man's mouth fell wide open after seeing Naruto's cards. He was too stunned to say anything. His friends had to haul him away from the table.

"He is so cool…"

"That was amazing!"

"You're so gnarly!"

The other people around the table cheered as the blonde collected his chips.

"Where do I encash these?" Naruto asked.

"Over there." The dealer pointed to a counter in another part of the casino.

"Thank you."

As he was waiting for his cash, a voice whispered in his head. _Don't be fooled, my son._

"What?" Naruto asked aloud.

The clerk gave him a quizzical look. "Did you say something, sir?"

"It's nothing…" The blonde shook his head.

A few minutes later, the clerk gave him a brief case full of cash. "Here you go sir." She said.

Naruto thanked the clerk and walked away.

The voice came back again. _Do not forget your quests. Do not fall for their tricks._

Then, it dawned on him. He remembered his quest that seemed to have made resurgence.

"How could I forget?" he said and swore in Ancient Greek. He sealed the briefcase away in the seal on his right arm.

The blonde ran into the bathroom and poofed back to normal.

As he ran out, he met out with Percy who seemed to be looking for their friends.

"You figured it out too?" Percy asked.

"More like a voice whispered to me. I think it was my mom." Naruto answered. "How about you?"

"There was this guy who talking weird. I think his name was Garrin or something." Percy started.

"Why does it sound like you didn't get the name right?" The blonde teased.

Percy glared at Naruto.

"Right, right, sorry." Naruto chuckled.

He continued. "When I asked him what year it was, he said it was 1977."

"This is bad. I can't believe we forgot about the quest."

"You got that right. I'm trying to think of what we're supposed to do, but I can't think of it out of the top of my head. Heck, I can't even think of my mom's name."

"This is bad." Naruto commented. "We've got to find them and get out of here."

"I'll get Grover." Percy said. "Let's meet back at the entrance."

Naruto nodded, then they split up.

* * *

It didn't take long for Naruto to find Annabeth. The daughter of Athena was still busy building a city on one of those 3D simulation games.

"Hey Annabeth!" Naruto greeted. "I hate to burst your bubble, but we've got to get out of here."

Annabeth seemingly didn't hear him.

Naruto shook her by the shoulders.

She looked up annoyed. "What? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"That's cool and all, but we've got a quest to complete."

"Quest? What are you talking about? I've got to build these–"She didn't finish her sentence.

"This place is a trap."

Once again, she seemed like she didn't hear a thing. Not until Naruto shook her again. "What now?"

"Master Bolt, Underworld, Percy's mom… any of them ring a bell?"

"Oh come on. Let me finish my city."

Naruto was trying to stay calm, "There are people here from 1977. You check in here and stay forever."

"So?" she asked. "Isn't that great? We're having the time of our life."

The older blonde took a deep breath. He knew that arguing was pointless. She seemed to be deep under the spell.

Just then, an idea hit him. A big grin made it to Naruto's mouth.

She focused on Annabeth and made the necessary hand signs.

A few seconds later, Annabeth froze in fear like in the water park. She was about to scream, but Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder.

She slowly turned around. "N-naruto? H-how long have we–"

"Beats me, but I'm getting a bad feeling about that. Come on, let's meet Grover and Percy."

"Where?"

"At the entrance. Let's go!"

* * *

**HOTEL ENTRANCE**

Annabeth and Naruto arrived at the entrance to see Percy nursing his head and Grover trying to apologize.

"Why do you have a hoof shaped mark on your forehead?" Naruto pointed out.

"Ask him…" Percy said, pointing at Grover.

"I tried to super kick the Redneck in the game, but Percy was right in front of me trying to get my attention." Grover said as he laughed nervously.

After a few rounds of laughing much to Percy's annoyance, Percy urged his friends to go.

"Come on, we need to…"

He didn't get to finish, because the guy from earlier appeared from behind them in the same enthusiastic tone from when they entered the hotel.

"Hi!" the bellhop said. "Just in time! We just opened a whole new level of games for platinum card members!"

"Nope! We're leaving!" All four of them said.

"Oh," The bellhop's expression drooped. "That's a shame."

Grover seemed to be getting under the spell again. "Maybe, we could–"

"Grover! No!" The three demigods said.

They burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk. It seemed like afternoon, just the same time they entered the hotel, but there was something different. Dark grey clouds covered the sky, and lightning flashed across the desert.

"Wait." Percy said. "What is Ares' backpack doing here?"

"Hmmm, he must've enchanted it." Annabeth said.

"Uhh guys," Grover called his friends' attention from a newspaper stand. "You're going to want to look at this…"

His friends made their way over.

Percy sighed in relief. "Good! We're still in the same year!"

"No, not that. Look at the day." Grover pointed.

"WHAT!?" The others exclaimed.

It was the 20th of June.

"We were in there for five days!" Annabeth said.

"But it only seemed like hours." Percy said.

They all looked crestfallen, but Naruto spoke up, "There's nothing else we can do now. Let's focus on the quest."

"Okay…" The other three said in unison.

"But, how do we get to LA?" Percy asked.

Annabeth perked up like a lightbulb lit up on top of her head. She walked up to the road and hailed a taxi cab.

"I always wanted to do that." She commented.

A taxi pulled over to the curb. She loaded her friends as if they actually had money, and told the driver, "Los Angeles, please."

The taxi driver chewed his cigar and sized the group up. "That's 300 miles from here. You gotta have to pay up front."

"You accept casino debit cards?" Annabeth asked.

The driver shrugged, "Some of 'em. They're basically the same as credit cards. I gotta swipe 'em first though."

Annabeth handed the card over, and he swiped it on the machine. It started rattling, lights flashed, and an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.

The driver dropped the cigar from his mouth. He looked back at the group, his eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Where to in Los Angeles… uh, your highness."

Annabeth beamed a wide grin, and sat up straight. She seemed to like to be called that. "Santa Monica Pier. Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."

"Your wish is my command." The driver said, and sped through the desert at least 90 miles an hour.

On the way to Santa Monica, the group had plenty of time to talk. Percy told his friends about his latest dream, although he wasn't sure about the details anymore. It seems like the hotel had altered his memory somehow. For the life of him, he couldn't remember the title.

"The Silent One?" Annabeth suggested. "The Rich One?"

"Hmmm… Maybe. None of them feels right tho." Percy said scratching his chin.

"The throne room sounds like it belongs to Hades. I mean, that's how it's usually described." Grover chimed.

Percy shook his head. "Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And the voice from the pit… It just didn't feel like a gods' voice."

"I don't like where this is going…" Naruto spoke up.

"Why? What's wrong?" Annabeth asked.

"This just doesn't feel like a conflict of the gods, maybe something older, more ancient." Naruto said

Annabeth's eyes widened.

"What? You see it too?" Naruto asked.

Annabeth shook her head. "No no… But it has to be Hades. It must have been him who sent this… this invisible guy to steal the bolt and maybe something went wrong." She said, but she sounded like she was convincing herself about it.

"I don't think it's that simple Annabeth. I mean Percy's dream was centred on the Pit, and there aren't the many pits in Greek Mythology. And if it isn't Hades…"

"G-guys, can we please not overthink." Grover said. "It has to be Hades."

All of them fell silent after that.

A few minutes of silence later, Naruto whispered something to Annabeth's ear.

The girl's whole face turned red. "Wh-when did you?"

"What wrong?" The other two boys asked.

"Back in the truck, maybe the same time Percy had his."

"You know you kinda look like–" Naruto was about to tell the others, but Annabeth covered his mouth preventing him from speaking it out.

"Fine I won't tell them." Naruto relented. "But I saw Thalia there though, along with Luke. I wonder what it means."

"I don't think it has something to do with this quest." Grover said.

"Maybe something with the…" Annabeth caught herself, like she was saying something she wasn't supposed to.

"What?" Percy asked.

Annabeth cursed herself for almost letting herself slip like that.

"It's nothing…" She said.

Another round of silence came over, and stayed for the rest of the trip. Not one of them wanted to think of whatever they had to face ahead.

* * *

**A FEW HOURS LATER**

The cab raced past a sign that read CALIFORNIA STATE LINE, 12 MILES.

After passing the sign, Annabeth said, "The answer is in the Underworld. Percy saw spirits of the dead. It has to be there."

She kept trying to boost morale by suggesting strategies for getting in to the land of the dead, but it sounded like she was trying to cheer herself up. The others weren't in to it either, Naruto in particular.

As the cab sped west, the older blonde began to sense the feeling of death in the air the closer they got to California. Also, the closer they got, the more Naruto doubted the whole underworld mission. And, in the back of his head, something was telling him they were entering somebody else's turf, but he decided to ignore this.

At sunset, the taxi dropped them off at the beach in Santa Monica. It was exactly as you would see it in the movies, but there was the smell of death in the air.

"Okay, time to look for the Underworld." Naruto said to his friends.

"Uhh, I have to talk to my dad first." Percy said.

"What? Why?" Naruto inquired. Hearing this is news to him.

"Oh yeah!" Annabeth said out loud. "I forgot you missed Percy getting out of the Mississipi."

Percy nodded. "Back then, voice told me that my dad wanted me to come here at the beach."

"So, what now?" Annabeth asked.

Percy looked towards the Pacific without answering Annabeth. The setting sun was coloring the ocean gold. The son of Poseidon started to walk to the surf.

"Uhh Percy?" Annabeth asked again. "What are you doing?"

Percy kept walking until the water was up to his waist, then up to his chest.

"Percy! Don't you know how polluted the water is here?" Grover called out.

The son of Poseidon still didn't say anything, but that was when his head went under.

Annabeth sighed.

"So, is anyone else hungry?" Grover asked.

"I am. I'll go get us some food. Annabeth, you want anything?" Naruto offered.

"Just a sandwhich." Annabeth answered.

"Grover?" Naruto turned to the satyr.

"Coffee, please!" He requested.

Naruto nodded. "Be back in a flash."

A few minutes of walking later, Naruto made it to a coffee shop. In front of the coffee shop was a woman in a grey work suit with a phone pressed to her ear. Along with her was a sandy blond-haired girl that was tied to a bun. She had a look that suggested she was Native American, and her eyes seemed to shift in color from green, to blue, to brown. The sandy blonde-haired girl looked annoyed at her companion.

"Jane, can we go now? Dad is waiting for us at the Carnival, and there's no way I'm missing my time with him." The girl complained to the so called Jane.

Naruto approached them. "A bit in a bind, are we?"

"Tell me about it. My dad set aside this time for us two, but Jane is wasting it with that call of hers." The girl told her.

"Just a sec." Naruto said.

Naruto plucked the phone out of Jane's hand and ended the call.

"What are you doing? Give me back my phone, boy!" Jane said angrily.

Naruto just stared at her.

"Hey! Are you even listening?" She continued.

A little breeze blew from the right, then Jane slumped backward snoring.

"Thanks. But what did you do?" The girl said.

"Nothing really." Naruto lied.

"Will she be okay?"

"She'll be fine. She'll wake up eventually. Tell your dad she was taking an important call."

"Thanks again."

"No problem."

The girl turned around and went on their way. Naruto, on the other hand, walked in the coffee shop to buy himself and his friends some food.

When Naruto got out of the coffee shop, two police officers walked by. They seemed to recognize the blonde, and they whispered to each other. One of them radioed it in.

"Uhh sir, could you come with us to the station, please?" One of the police said

"_Oh shit." _Naruto cursed to himself. _"Bad timing."_

The blonde started backing away slowly.

"Sir, don't try to run."

He turned around about to run away, with the police about to run after him, but the blonde disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving the police flabbergasted.

* * *

**BACK AT THE BEACH**

Naruto arrived at about the same time Percy made it to land.

"Whew! That was close." Naruto said.

"What happened?" Grover asked.

"Two officers came by the coffee shop." Naruto answered.

"How'd you get away?" Annabet asked.

"I used my clones. More importantly," He said as Percy walked up. "What did your dad say?"

Percy shook his head. "My dad wasn't there. It was just a messenger. She just gave me these."

He took out four pearls. "She said these will come in handy later on and that everything returns to the sea. She also said not to trust the gifts. What do they mean?"

"She's a bit cryptic, isn't she?" Naruto commented.

"No gift comes without a price." Annabeth warned.

"But, she didn't ask for anything." Percy said.

"No." She shook her head. " Percy, 'There is no such thing as a free lunch.' That's saying in ancient Greece. It translates pretty well into American. There will be a price. You wait."

"Well, aren't we cheery." The older blonde commented getting a huff from the only girl in the group.

"So, where to next?" Grover asked. "We definitely don't have time to search the whole of California."

"Oh wait." Percy exclaimed, then dug into his pockets.

"I swiped it from Medusa's office." He said showing his friends an address slip.

"Nice," Naruto praised. "Let's go get a bus."

With some spare change from Ares' backpack, they took a bus to West Hollywood. Percy showed the driver the address slip, but the driver said he never heard of it before. The driver almost recognized the two boys, but thanks to some quick thinking from Grover, they managed to divert suspicions. Seeing that riding the bus wouldn't help, they just got off at the next stop.

They wandered for miles on foot, trying to look for the studio. Nobody knew about it, and it never .appeared on any phonebooks.

For multiple times, they had to duck into alleys to avoid cop cars. Apparently, they were riled up when they saw Naruto back in Santa Monica.

When they passed by an appliance store, Naruto and Percy froze when they saw what was playing. It was playing an interview of someone they knew all too well– Smelly Gabe. He was talking to Barbara Walters like he was some kind of celebrity. The interview, itself, was taking place in the apartment, in the middle of a poker game which was typical for the middle aged man.

A fake tear glistened on his cheek. He was saying, "Honest, Ms. Walters, if it wasn't for Sugar here, my grief counselor, I'd be a wreck. My stepson and his friend took everything I cared about. My wife ... my Camaro ... I-I'm sorry. I have trouble talking about it."

"There you have it, America." Barbara Walters turned to the camera. "A man torn apart. Two adolescent boys with serious issues. Let me show you, again, the last known photo of these troubled young fugitives, taken a week ago in Denver."

The screen cut to a grainy photo of the group standing outside the diner back in Colorado as they were talking to Ares.

"Who are the other children in this photo?" Barbara Walters asked dramatically. "Who is the man with them? Are these boys delinquents? Are they terrorists? Or perhaps they've become brainwashed victims of a frightening new cult? When we come back, we chat with a leading child psychologist. Stay tuned, America."

"I'm going to kill him when we get back to New York." Percy grumbled.

"Hey! Maybe my mom would turn him into a jackelope." Naruto said.

They left the appliance store as soon as the sun was setting on the horizon. About that time, the shady characters of the L.A. night were starting to come out. They passed by gangbangers, bums, and street hawkers, who looked at us like they were trying to figureif we were worth the trouble of mugging.

As they hurried passed the entrance of an alley, a voice from the darkness called out to them.

Percy stopped.

Before he knew it, a gang of kids had surrounded them. Six of them in all-white kids with expensive clothes and mean faces, like the kids at Yancy Academy: rich brats playing at being bad boys.

Acting on instinct, Percy drew his sword.

When the sword appeared, the other kids started backing away, except for their leader who charged at them with a switch blade.

Percy swung his sword.

The kid yelped, but the blade passed through him harmlessly. He looked down. "What the…"

"Nice try kid…" the leader said.

He was about to attack again, but a loud yawn came from the Naruto.

"Stop that or your friend's gonna get it!" The leader threatened.

"Did you say something?" Naruto asked.

"I was about to get skewered, but you weren't paying attention!?" Percy shouted back.

"Sorry, sorry, they just didn't seem worth the effort." Naruto lazily said.

"We don't have time for this." Annabeth complained.

The leader's face turned red seeing that their victims weren't taking him seriously. "ARGH! Give us your money or else you're not leaving here alive."

Just then, a projectile flew past the boy's cheek leaving a cut on his face.

Naruto appeared in front of him planted a fist on his cheek, then, kicked him on the chest, sending him flying into a dumpster.

The others turned away and was about to run, but five clones of Naruto appeared in front of them and knocked them out with a good punch to the gut.

"Next time don't go on acting tough if you don't have the balls to show it." He grumbled.

Naruto dispelled his clones, and then turned to his friends who were looking at him in awe. "Let's go."

They started wandering again. One block away, they made it to the only store that was open in the entire place. There was a neon sign glaring with the words CRSTUY'S WATRE BDE ALPACE.

"Crusty's Water Bed Palace." Grover translated.

"Maybe we can ask for directions." Percy suggested.

"It's worth a try." Annabeth said.

The four of them entered the store.

"Customers!" A voice came from the inside, that made the four of them jump.

-TO BE CONTINUED-


	19. The Underworld

**Chapter 19**

"Customers!" A voice boomed from the inside the store making the four of them jump.

Walking from the inside of the store was a raptor in a leisure suit that looked like it came from the Lotus Hotel. It looked like it belonged in the 70s. He was seven feet tall, with absolutely no hair. He had gray, leathery skin, thick-lidded eyes, and a cold, reptilian smile. He was moving towards them slowly.

"Welcome! My name is Crusty," he said with a tartar yellow smile.

"Ahhh! So that's what the sign said!" Percy exclaimed.

Annabeth elbowed him.

"Ow!" Percy complained.

Annabeth ignored him. "Sorry about my friend here. He can't read very well. Anyway, we're here to ask for directions."

The salesman seemed sceptical. "You mean hide from those no good kids?" He grumbled. "They hang around every night. I get a lot of people here thanks to them."

"Oh hell no! We took care of them." Naruto said.

"Well, good for you then. Say, you want to look at a water bed?" Crusty offered.

"We're not here for–" Annabeth tried to protest.

Crusty ignored her. He placed a hand on Percy's shoulder and steered him further inside the store.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

The daughter of Athena sighed in frustration.

While they were walking, Naruto asked, "Uhh guys, don't you think Crusty is short for something?"

"Hmmm…" Annabeth tried to think.

As the both blondes were thinking, Grover dove into one of the mattresses. "Guys! This is cool! We can get massages." He urged his friends.

"Hmmm," Crusty said as he was stroking his chin. "Almost, almost."

"Almost what?" Percy asked.

Crusty ignored him. Instead he turned to Annabeth and showed her to another mattress. "Do me a favour and try this one here, honey. Might fit."

"What do you mean might fit?" Naruto asked.

Again, Crusty didn't reply. He just patted Annabeth on the shoulder and led over to the Safari Deluxe model with teakwood lions carved into the frame and a leopard-patterned comforter and urged her to lie down. When she refused to do so, Crusty pushed her.

"Hey!" She protested.

Crusty snapped his fingers. "Ergo!"

Ropes sprang from the sides of the bed, lashing around Annabeth, holding her to the mattress.

Grover tried to get up, the same thing happened to his black satin mattress while it was shaking from his million-hand massage. "N-not c-c-cool!" he yelled. "N-not c-cool a-at all!"

The giant looked at Annabeth, then at the duo.

They both took a step back, but his hand shot out and clamped both of them around the back of the neck – well at least he tried, for Naruto. The blonde was way too slippery for Crusty to catch.

"Let them go!" Naruto demanded.

"Oh, sure, sure, eventually. I just have to make them fit first.

"What?" was the blonde's puzzled response.

"All the beds are exactly six feet long. Your friends here are too short. I got to make them fit."

The two kept struggling.

"I can't stand imperfect measurments. Crusty muttered. "Ergo!"

A new set of ropes leaped out from the top and bottom of the beds, wrapping around Grover and Annabeth's ankles, then around their armpits. The ropes started tightening, pulling them from both ends.

"Don't worry," Crusty told the two, "These are stretching jobs. Maybe three extra inches on their spines. They might even live. Now why don't we find a bed you like, huh?"

"Percy! Naruto!" Grover yelled.

Percy's mind was racing. He was trying to think of a way to free his friends, preferably with Naruto's help. He knew he couldn't take the Crusty on his own. If he tried to reach for his sword now, Crusty would snap his neck, easily.

"So, your name's not Crusty, is it?" Percy asked.

The giant shook his head. "No, it's–"

Naruto spoke up. "Procrustes, the Stretcher. I imagine that name won't work for your business."

Crusty's eyes lit up. "Yeah! That's why I go as Crusty."

"It has a nice ring to it." Percy commented.

"You guys think so?" the giant asked.

Both boys nodded.

"You know what? Since you're such a good host, the least we can do is check out the water beds." Naruto said.

Crusty seemed to be elated and led the two boys to the next water bed.

"What are you guys doing?!" Annabeth complained. "A little help here!"

Naruto winked at her as a clone appeared behind him and made its way to Annabeth and Grover to free them.

Crusty didn't seem to notice since he was preoccupied explaining the bed's specifications.

After the giant was done, Naruto said, "These beds are amazing and all, but not all your customers are six feet, I assume?"

Crusty shook his head, "Unfortunately not. They are so inconsiderate. Then, they go complaining about the fitting."

"Uhmm, so what about if the customer is over six feet?" Percy asked.

"Easy!" Crusty said as he let go of Percy to get his double bladed axe. "I just– Hey!"

He didn't get to finish. Naruto and the clone he made earlier pushed Crusty into a water bed. Before he could get up, Percy snapped his fingers and shouted "Ergo!" Ropes lashed around the giant securing him onto the mattress.

"Center him just right." Naruto said.

The ropes readjusted themselves at the shinobi's command. Crusty's whole head stuck out the top. His feet stuck out the bottom.

"No! Wait! We can talk about this!" Crusty tried to bargain.

"Percy, will you do the honours?" Naruto said.

"With pleasure." Percy uncapped his pen.

"You drive a hard bargain," he told Percy. "I'll give you a discount, 30% off on selected floor models!"

"I think I'll start with the top." Percy raised his sword.

"No money down! No interest for six months!" Crusty added.

"Just do it already seaweed brain!" Annabeth scolded as she walked up to the too.

Percy swung his sword at Crusty's head.

"You look taller." Naruto joked.

"Ha ha very funny." Annabeth said.

Grover went to look at the bulletin board behind Crusty's sales desk. There was an advertisement for Hermes Delivery Service, and another for the All-New Compendium of L.A. Area Monsters: The only Monstrous Yellow Pages you'll ever need! Under that, a bright orange flier for DOA Recording Studios, offering commissions for heroes' souls. The flier said, 'We are always looking for new talent!' DOA's address was right underneath with a map.

"Guys, I know where the studio is!" The satyr told his friends.

"Where?" Percy asked as he recapped his sword.

"It's a block from here." Grover said showing the map.

"Cool, then let's go." Naruto said.

When the blonde said that, the group heard the doors open and two female voices talking to each other.

Naruto drew a kunai and hid behind the mattresses. This prompted his friends to draw their own weapons and scurry off to hide. He signalled his friends to stay quiet. Due to the commotion of the group, a pen fell from the desk revealing their presence inside the store.

The two girls became cautious drew their weapons and shouted, "We know you're there. Come out!"

The demigods came out of hiding to face them with weapons still drawn.

In front of them were two girls maybe about 14 years of age wearing silver jackets and camo pants. They were holding their bows ready to fire.

As soon as the girls saw Naruto, they lowered their bow and said, "Wait! You! What are you doing here?"

Grover expression instantly became dreamy at the sight of them, while Annabeth had a relieved look on her face. For Percy, well, he was looking clueless at who the new people were.

"I'm here on a quest with my friends. Wait, you know me?" The blonde inquired.

"Yes of course. There's a lot of talk around the Hunt about you ever since our mistress claimed you." One of them answered.

"Wait, by Hunt you mean, my mom's Hunt?" Naruto asked.

"Duhh, of course. What else?" The other hunter answered, then looked him up and down. "You don't look like much. All the talk around camp was nothing like the real thing."

"Phoebe! You don't want the Lady to hear you saying that." The first one scolded.

"I know you're thinking the same thing, Liz." Phoebe replied.

"Yeah! But still…"

Annabeth decided to stop their argument. "Ahem! So, what are you girls doing here?" She asked.

"We came to slay a giant." Liz answered.

"You mean Crusty?" Percy asked.

Both girls nodded.

"Yeah about that…" Naruto said. "We already took care of him."

"What?!" Phoebe exclaimed. "Now you come and take our jobs too?"

"No, it's not like that." Annabeth explained. "We got caught so they freed us."

"Is it true?" Phoebe asked?

All of them nodded, except for Grover who was still looking at the girls dreamily.

"Anyway, it was nice to meet you, and sorry about my sudden arrival. I take it you girls were stirred up when you heard the news." Naruto said.

"Are you kidding?" Phoebe said. "A lot of the hunters would very much like to have your head. They still can't accept that you are the Lady's son."

"Oh… That's a bummer." Naruto looked down with sadness on his face. "I was thinking that you guys could be my sisters or something like that."

He looked up to them, this time with a smile, "So, I still have to gain your trust, and I know you don't have much of an opinion on boys, but I would really like to get along with you guys."

"We will have to see. For now, you have quest am I right?" Liz reminded.

"Oh yeah! Almost forgot!"

"We should really get going. We still have to get to the underworld." Annabeth said.

Naruto bid them farewell with a huge smile on his face. "I will be seeing you again right?"

Both of them nodded and watched the demigods go on their way."

"Well that was unexpected." Liz commented.

"I'm not sure about him yet." Phoebe said. "He doesn't seem as arrogant as other boys, tho."

"He will still have to prove himself to the Hunt for our sisters to accept him."

"Agreed. Come on! Lady Artemis will be thrilled at who we ran into today."

Liz nodded.

* * *

**AT THE RECORDING STUDIO**

The demigods stood in the shadows of Valencia Boulevard, looking up at gold letters etched in black marble: DOA RECORDING STUDIOS.

Underneath, stencilled on the glass doors: NO SOLICITORS. NO LOITERING. NO LIVING.

"Oh goody!" was all they were thinking as they entered the studio.

It was almost midnight, but the lobby was brightly lit and full of people. Behind the security desk sat a tough-looking guard with sunglasses and an earpiece.

Percy turned to his friends. "Okay. Who's ready to whoop some Underworld butt?"

"With that amazing plan you said earlier." Naruto said.

"Y-yeah, about that." Grover tried to protest.

"Are you sure the plan would work?" Annabeth asked.

"Guys, guys, I think we should trust in Percy's plan." Naruto offered. "I mean we got here with each other's help, and I don't think we would go anywhere if we stop trusting each other now."

"Right." Annabeth said. "I'm sorry Percy. I trust you. I trust all of you."

She gave Grover a nudge.

"Oh, right!" he chimed in. "We got this far. We'll find the master bolt and save your mom. No problem."

Percy looked at his friends, and felt really grateful. Over the course of their journey, they have almost died, felt hungry together, and evaded the police. Here they are now, about to enter the Underworld, and they were still trying to be brave.

Naruto placed a hand one Percy's shoulder. "Lead the way, captain."

Percy held the pearls in his pockets. "Let's go. We got this."

They walked inside the DOA lobby.

Muzak played softly on hidden speakers. The carpet and walls were steel grey. Pencil cacti grew in the corners like skeleton hands. The furniture was black leather, and every seat was taken. There were people sitting on couches, people standing up, people staring out the windows or waiting for the elevator. Nobody moved, or talked, or did much of anything.

Out of the corner of their eyes, the demigods could see them all just fine, but when they focused on any one of them in particular, they started looking ... transparent. They could see right through their bodies.

They approached the security guards desk which was raised so they had to look up at him.

He was tall and elegant, with chocolate-colored skin and bleached-blond hair shaved military style. He wore tortoiseshell shades and a silk Italian suit that matched his hair. A black rose was pinned to his lapel under a silver name tag.

Percy read the name tag, and then looked at him in bewilderment. "Your name is Chiron?"

"Do I look like a centaur to you?" The security guard said.

Annabeth sighed.

"Uhh Percy, we've been through that back in Yancy, remember?" Naruto whispered to his dyslexic friend.

The attendant leaned across the desk. There was in his glasses except the group's reflection, but his smile was sweet and cold

"Can you not read, young lad, like your friend here?" He had a strange British-style accent, but it sounded like it was his second language. "Tell me, mate, do I look like a centaur?"

"N-no." Percy slowly replied.

"Sir," he added smoothly.

"Sir," I said.

He pinched the name tag and ran his finger under the letters. "Can you read this, mate? It says C-H-A-R-O-N. Say it with me: CARE-ON."

"Charon." Percy repeated.

"Amazing! Now all of you say Mr. Charon."

"But…" Annabeth and Grover tried to protest, but Charon insisted. The two decided to relent to avoid any trouble.

"Mr. Charon," all of them said save for Naruto who was biting his lip trying not to laugh.

Charon noticed this, so he turned to the blonde and said, "I didn't hear you there, young lad."

Annabeth elbowed him.

"Oh right, sorry." Naruto said. "Mr. Charon."

"Well done." He sat back. "I hate being confused with that old horse-man. And now, how may I help you little dead ones?"

Percy opened his mouth to speak, but the question was stuck in his stomach. He turned to his friends for support.

"We want to go to the Underworld." It was Annabeth who answered.

Charon's mouth twitched. His mind went blank for a second.

"Is everything alright, sir?" Annabeth asked.

Charon shook his head back to reality. "Sorry sorry, I'm just used to the usual screaming, like 'There must be a mistake, Mr. Charon.' It's just refreshing."

"It is?" Annabeth asked, not expecting his response.

"Yep, mates. Straightforward and honest, just how I like it." Charon said. "So how did you die, then?"

Annabeth nudged Grover.

"Oh," he said. "Um ... drowned ... in the bathtub."

"All four of you?" Charon asked.

"Not for me! I was taking a walk when a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way home. Somewhere along the way, I got lost on the path of life, so I didn't see the cliff in front of me." Naruto explained.

That left Charon and his friends' mouth hanging. "Mate, I don't know if that was a lie or not, but wow."

After taking in Naruto's story, Charon asked Annabeth and Percy. "What about you two? Did you drown with your friend here?"

"I…uh...died when my bus blew up." Percy answered.

"Uhm…I ate some stranger's food which was…uh…poisoned." Annabeth answered.

Charon looked mildly impressed. "I don't suppose you have coins for passage. Normally, with adults, you see, I could charge your American Express, or add the ferry price to your last cable bill. But with children ... alas, you never die prepared. Suppose you'll have to take a seat for a few centuries."

"Oh, but we have coins." Percy set three golden drachmas on the counter, from his pocket.

"Well, now ..." Charon moistened his lips. "Real drachmas. Real golden drachmas. I haven't seen these in ..."

His fingers hovered greedily over the coins.

Then Charon realized something and looked at Percy "Here now," he said. "You couldn't read my name correctly. Are you dyslexic, lad?"

"No," I said. "I'm dead."

Charon leaned forward and took a sniff. "You're not dead. I should've known. You're a godling. All of you are! Get out of here or go ACTUALLY die if you really want to pass through."

Naruto discretely unsealed one of the scrolls on his pouch and brought out a small cloth bag filled with drachmas. He opened it to reveal the contents to Charon. "Even if we have more of this?"

"Do you think I can be bought godling?" Charon raised his voice, but he was looking at the bag of drachmas. "Say, how much is in that thing anyway?" He asked curiously.

"I guess we'll never know." Naruto said pocketing the cloth bag and turned to go, with his friend following his lead.

"It's a shame too; we have more to offer you." Percy said letting the coins run through his fingers in his pockets.

"Tsk tsk, I bet your boss doesn't pay you enough." Annabeth added trying to sound confident.

That did it. "Wait!" Charon said as the group was almost at the door. "We can talk about this."

Naruto broke into a mischievous grin, with back still turned. _"Gotcha." _He thought.

The group turned back to the counter. "We're listening." The blonde said.

"You said my boss doesn't pay me enough, lass? Oh, you don't know the half of it. How would you like to babysit these spirits all day? Always 'Please don't let me be dead' or 'Please let me across for free.' I haven't had a pay raise in three thousand years. Do you imagine suits like this come cheap?"

"You deserve better," Annabeth agreed. "A little appreciation. Respect. Good pay."

With every word she said, Naruto taunted Charon by throwing it up and down.

Charon glanced down at his silk Italian jacket, as if imagining himself in something even better. "I must say. You kids are making some sense now. Just a little."

"We could mention a pay raise while I'm talking to Hades." Percy added.

Charon sighed. "The boat's almost full, anyway. I might as well add you four and be off."

"There we are." Naruto said and tossed the cloth bag to Charon, who greedily caught it in the air.

He pocketed the bag and said, "Come along."

The group pushed through the crowd of waiting spirits, who started grabbing at the demigod's clothes like the wind, their voices whispering things no one could decipher. Charon shoved them out of the way, grumbling, "Freeloaders."

He escorted them into the elevator, which was already crowded with souls of the dead, each one holding a green boarding pass. Charon grabbed two spirits who were trying to get on with them and pushed them back into the lobby.

"Right. Now, no one get any ideas while I'm gone," he announced to the waiting room. "And if anyone moves the dial off my easy-listening station again, I'll make sure you're here for another thousand years. Understand?"

He shut the doors. He put a key card into a slot in the elevator panel and the car started to descend.

"What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing," Charon said.

"For how long?"

"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."

"Oh," she said. "That's ... fair."

Charon raised an eyebrow. "Whoever said death was fair, young miss? Wait until it's your turn. You'll die soon enough, where you're going."

"Oh, I doubt that." Naruto said causing everyone to look at him.

"You're naïve, demigod." Charon chastised. "Where we're going…"

"No," Percy cut him off. "We'll survive. We have to."

Suddenly, everyone got a dizzy feeling. The feeling they had of going down disappeared. Now, they were going forward. The air around them turned misty, and the spirits around them started changing shape. Their modern clothes flickered, turning into grey hooded robes. The floor of the elevator began swaying.

Even Charon's clothes changed. His Italian suit was replaced by a long black robe. His tortoiseshell glasses were gone, and his eye sockets were totally dark, full of night and death and despair.

"Well?" Charon asked Percy, who was staring at him.

"Nothing," Percy managed.

The floor kept swaying.

Grover said, "I think I'm getting seasick."

Apparently, even the elevator has changed. Instead, they were standing in a wooden barge. Charon was poling the barge across a dark, oily river, swirling with bones, dead fish, and other, stranger things plastic dolls, crushed car-nations, soggy diplomas with gilt edges.

"The River Styx," Naruto and Annabeth said together.

The two of them looked at each other for a second, but Annabeth blushed and looked away. She managed to say, "It's so…"

"Polluted," Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across-hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."

Naruto, then remembered his own dream that he left in the Elemental Nation. He thought about it, and if ever he could still achieve it.

As they sailed, mist curled off the filthy water. Above them, almost lost in the gloom, was a ceiling of stalactites. Ahead, the far shore glimmered with greenish light, the colour of poison.

Percy was starting to panic as they got closer. Annabeth, too, was feeling the same, so she grabbed Percy hand. In normal circumstances, this would be embarrassing for the both of them, but given the situation, they didn't give it much thought. (Naruto didn't notice this since he was lost in his thoughts.)

A little while longer, the shoreline of the Underworld came into view. Craggy rocks and black volcanic sand stretched inland about a hundred yards to the base of a high stone wall, which marched off in either direction as far as the eye could see. A sound came from somewhere nearby in the green gloom, echoing off the stones-the howl of a large animal.

"Old Three-Face is hungry," Charon said. His smile turned skeletal in the greenish light. "Bad luck for you, godlings."

"Good thing we have the plan." Percy said.

The boat they were in slid into black sand, and everyone began to disembark.

Charon said, "I'd wish you luck, mate, but there isn't any down here. Mind you, don't forget to mention my pay raise."

That didn't help the demigods' moods.

The group followed the spirits up a well-worn path until they reached the gates of the Underworld. So far, everything that Naruto has seen in the Underworld is within his expectations. When they reached the gates, he was surprised to see that it looked so modern. (Like a cross between a Jersey Turnpike and Airport Security as Percy had said)

There were three separate entrances under one huge black archway that said YOU ARE NOW ENTERING EREBUS. Each entrance had a pass-through metal detector with security cameras mounted on top.

The howling they heard earlier was really loud now, but none of them could see where it was coming from. Naruto figured it was coming from Cerberus who was supposed to be guarding the gates of the Underworld.

The dead queued up in the three lines, two marked ATTENDANT ON DUTY, and one marked EZ DEATH. The EZ DEATH line was moving right along. The other two were crawling.

"What do you figure?" I asked Annabeth.

"It looks like a line in the DMV." Grover said.

The other two boys nodded.

"The fast line must go straight to the Asphodel Fields," she said. "No contest. They don't want to risk judgment from the court, because it might go against them."

"There's a court for dead people?" Percy asked.

"Yeah. Three judges. They switch around who sits on the bench. King Minos, Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeare-people like that. Sometimes they look at a life and decide that person needs a special reward-the Fields of Elysium. Sometimes they decide on punishment. But most people, well, they just lived. Nothing special, good or bad. So they go to the Asphodel Fields."

"And do what?"

Grover said, "Imagine standing in a wheat field in Kansas. Forever."

"Harsh," Percy said.

"If you think that's harsh, what do you call the Fields of Punishment?" Naruto said.

"Hey guys look!" Grover pointed out a soul getting frisked at a security desk. "It's the preacher from the news."

"What are they going to do to him?" Percy asked after he remembered who he was.

"Special punishment?" Naruto asked.

Grover nodded. "Those who are really bad get Hades' special attention. The Kindly Ones will set up eternal torture for him."

That sent a shiver down Naruto and Percy's spines. They remembered Mrs. Dodds and their encounter with her. They were not excited to see her again.

"But if he's a preacher," I said, "and he believes in a different hell... ."

Grover shrugged. "Who says he's seeing this place the way we're seeing it? Humans see what they want to see. You're very stubborn-er, persistent, that way."

They were getting closer to the gates. The howling was so loud now it shook the ground at my feet, but I still couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

Then, about fifty feet in front of them, the green mist shimmered. Standing just where the path split into three lanes was an enormous shadowy monster.

TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys. Hopefully, I get to continue uploading new chapters from now on.**


	20. Annabeth Schools Cerberus

**Chapter 20**

The demigods' jaws hung open. They watched as the dead walked up to the monster with no fear at all. The ATTENDANT ON DUTY lines parted on either side of him. The EZ DEATH spirits walked right between his front paws and under his belly, which they could do without even crouching. As they looked higher up his body they saw a huge…

"He's a Rottweiler." Percy managed.

Naruto shook himself out of shock, "What did you expect, a Chihuahua?"

Percy shook his head. "I was expecting a black mastiff, but that's not the point. Why can we see him better?"

"I think…" Annabeth moistened her lips. "I'm afraid it's because we're getting closer to being dead."

Cereberus' head craned towards the demigods. He sniffed the air and growled. _'Hmmm, meat'_

Naruto and Grover perked up understanding what the three-headed dog said.

"It can smell the living," Percy said.

"But that's okay right?" Grover said, trembling next to Percy. "Because we have a plan."

"Right, a plan…" said Annabeth in the smallest voice her friends had ever heard from her.

They moved towards the monster.

The middle head snarled at them, then barked so loud that the demigods felt their eyeballs rattle.

"Damn boy," Naruto winced. "You don't have to be that rude."

"What? Why? What did it say?" Percy asked.

"I don't think there's a direct translation for that." It was Grover who answered.

Percy took the big stick out of his backpack which was just a bedpost he had broken off Crusty's Safari Deluxe floor model, and then he held it up.

"Hey, Big Fella," he called up. "I bet they don't play with you much."

Cerberus didn't look impressed. Instead, he just growled even louder.

"Good boy," Percy said weekly.

He began to wave the stick in the air. The middle head followed its movements while the other two heads were trained on the demigod holding the stick.

"Fetch!" Percy threw the stick into the gloom, a good solid throw. There was a loud ker-sploosh in the River Styx.

Cerberus glared at him, unimpressed. His eyes were baleful and cold.

This time, Cerberus made a different kind of growl. It was deeper down his three throats. _'Ten seconds, demigod. Choose the god to pray to. After that, get in my belly.'_

"We're dead." Grover winced.

"Oh no, Percy is about to be dog chow." Naruto said.

"Wait!" Annabeth said. She started rifling through her pack.

"Five seconds." Grover said. "Do we run now?"

"No, Annabeth has something up her sleeve." Naruto said.

Annabeth produced a red rubber ball the size of a grapefruit. It still had the label: WATERLAND, DENVER, CO. She raised the ball and marched straight up to Cerberus. . Percy and Grover hid their eyes, fearing what would happen, while Naruto stood his ground.

She shouted, "See the ball? You want the ball, Cerberus? Sit!"

Hearing this, Percy and Grover opened their eyes only to have their mouths hang open. Even the giant Rottweiler in front of them was as shocked as they were. For the only shinobi in the group, well, he was grinning at her actions.

All three of his heads cocked sideways. Six nostrils dilated.

"Sit!" Annabeth called again.

What happened next shocked Percy and Grover even more. Cerberus licked his three sets of lips, shifted on his haunches, and sat, immediately crushing a dozen spirits who'd been passing underneath him in the EZ DEATH line. The spirits made muffled hisses as they dissipated, like the air let out of tires.

"Good boy," Annabeth said, and then she threw Cerberus the ball.

Cerberus caught it in his middle mouth. It was barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads started snapping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.

"Drop it.'" Annabeth ordered.

Cerberus's heads stopped fighting and looked at her. The ball was wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He made a loud, scary whimper, and then dropped the ball, now slimy and bitten nearly in half, at Annabeth's feet.

"Good boy." She picked up the ball, ignoring the slobber all over it.

She turned to her friends. "Go now. EZ DEATH line, it's faster."

"But–" Percy tried to protest.

"No time for that, Percy." Naruto dragged his friends towards the line.

They inched slowly moved forward.

The giant dog seemed to notice this and growled.

"You got this." Naruto encouraged Annabeth as they passed.

She smiled, then nodded.

"Stay!" Annabeth ordered the monster. "If you want the ball, stay!"

Cerberus whimpered, but he stayed where he was.

Because of the daughter of Athena's efforts, the three boys managed to get through scott free.

"Good boy," She said again.

She held up the big red ball again. Although, this time she wasn't sure if she should throw reward him with it.

She threw the ball anyway. The monster's left mouth immediately snatched it up, only to be attacked by the middle head, while the right head moaned in protest.

While Cerberus was busy with his new toy, Annabeth ran to her friends who were waiting at the metal detector.

"How did you know the ball would work, but not the stick?" Percy asked.

"Honestly Percy, he found the stick insulting." Grover said.

"But how was that different from the ball?" Percy asked again confused.

"From obedience school," Annabeth explained, with tears falling down her eyes. "When I was little, at my dad's house, we had a Doberman..."

"Shhh… It's okay. We all have our pasts." Naruto said wiping her tears.

"Thanks…" She managed a smile.

"Are we done with all the sugar?" Grover said. "Come on!"

The three boys ran through the EZ death line, when Cerberus moaned pitifully from all three lines. This made Annabeth stop.

She turned to look at the Rottweiler, who was now turned 180 degrees and looking at them.

Cerberus panted expectantly, the tiny red ball in pieces in a puddle of drool at its feet.

"Good boy," Annabeth said, but her voice sounded melancholy and uncertain.

The monster's heads turned sideways, as if worried about her.

Naruto saw this and went back to her. He placed a hand on Annabeth's shoulder.

"You don't want to leave him alone, huh?" Naruto said. "Here."

Naruto raised his hands into a hand sign. In a puff of smoke, another Naruto appeared beside the original. With a half ram seal, the other Naruto transformed into a perfect copy of Annabeth.

Annabeth's expression brightened up, and hugged Naruto. "Thanks."

"Come on! Let's go!"

Grover and Percy pushed through the metal detector, followed closely by Naruto and Annabeth. The metal detector screamed and set off flashing red lights. "Unauthorized possessions! Magic detected!"

Cerberus started to bark, but was still focused on his new playmate.

They burst through the EZ DEATH gate, which started even more alarms blaring, and raced into the Underworld.

A few minutes later, they were hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past them, yelling for backup from the Furies.

"So, what have we learned today?" Grover asked in jest.

"To wing it?" Naruto tried.

"That three-headed dogs prefer red rubber balls over sticks?" Percy tried as well.

"No," Grover shook his head at both answers. "We've learned that Percy's plans really, really bite!"

"But, Annabeth and I had the same idea!" Percy protested

"Well, it would work for other dogs, I guess." Naruto offered.

"Hey! I thought you were on my side!" Percy said.

As the three boys were joking around, Annabeth was smiling as the joyful barks of Cerberus playing with his new friend.

* * *

**FIELDS OF ASPHODEL**

"It's like a giant football field." Percy commented.

"More like a concert." Annabeth corrected him.

"Yeah, but someone died backstage or something." Naruto added.

Those were the ways our group of demigods described this place. The black grass they were walking on had been trampled by eons of dead feet. A warm, moist wind blew like the breath of a swamp. Black trees Grover said were poplars grew in clumps here and there.

The demigods were now walking among the crowds of spirits trying to blend in, while keeping an eye out for security ghouls looking for them. All the spirits they passed by all look angry or confused. Some tried to talk to them, the voice that came out was chattering, something like bats twittering. When they realize you can't understand them, they frown and walk away. They concluded that ghosts weren't scary at all, they were just sad.

Naruto couldn't help but wonder if the dead of the Elemental Nations came to this same place. It was unlikely, but he still held hope that he would see his parents somewhere here. He kept his eyes open just in case.

They crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward a black tented pavilion with a banner that read:

**JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND ETERNAL DAMNATION**

**Welcome, Newly Deceased!**

Out the back of the tent came two much smaller lines.

The left line, which was flanked by security ghouls, led to the Fields of Punishment. It glowed and smoked in the distance. The fields were a vast, cracked wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields and miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas. Even from afar, you could see the different forms of torture the spirits were forced to endure for eternity.

The right line was by far much better. This one led to towards a small valley surrounded by walls, a gated community. This seemed, no It IS the only happy place in the Underworld. Beyond the security gate were neighbourhoods of beautiful houses from every time period in history, Roman villas and medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on the lawns. The grass rippled in rainbow colours. From where the demigods were standing, they could hear laughter and smell barbecue cooking. It was Elysium.

In the middle of that valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands like a vacation resort in the Bahamas. The Isles of the Blest, for people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium.

"That's what it's all about," Annabeth said. "That's the place for heroes."

Naruto nodded. "That's what we're all gunning for."

"You can say that again." Percy said.

Grover just remained silent.

After that, the demigods left the judgment pavilion and moved deeper into the Fields of Asphodel. It got darker. The colours faded from their clothes. The crowds of chattering spirits began to thin.

As Naruto was looking at more of the spirits, one in particular caught his attention. This spirit was a girl who looked like she was of African-American descent. She had curly brown hair hidden under her cloak. Unlike the other spirits, this one didn't look angry or confused, just sad. The two looked at each other in the eye, but the girl didn't pay Naruto any attention. Naruto, though, got curious and turned back for another look.

After a few miles of walking, the familiar screech could be heard in the distance. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. Above the parapets swirled three dark bat-like creatures: the Furies, who seemed to be waiting for them.

"I guess it's too late to turn back now, huh?" Grover said.

"We'll be okay." Percy tried say with confidence.

"Maybe we should search some of the other places first," Grover suggested. "Like, Elysium, for instance ..."

"I doubt we will find the lightning bolt in Elysium, Grover." Naruto said. "I don't think it's in the palace either. I'm sure though that we would get answers there."

"Yeah goat boy." Annabeth said grabbing his arm. "We're not going back after coming this far."

Grover yelped. His sneakers sprouted wings and his legs shot forward, pulling him away from Annabeth.

He landed flat on his back in the grass.

"Grover," Annabeth chided. "Stop messing around."

"But I didn't-"

He yelped again. His shoes were flapping like crazy now. They levitated off the ground and started dragging him away from his friends.

"Maia!" he yelled, but the magic word seemed to have no effect. "Maia, already! Nine-one-one! Help!"

Percy got over being stunned and was about to act, but was too late. Naruto with his amazing reflexes was able to jump and grab onto Grover, but was dragged like a bobsled.

Percy and Annabeth just ran after them.

Annabeth shouted, "Untie the shoes!"

Grover tried to sit up, but he couldn't get close to the laces.

The two were on his tail trying to keep up with Naruto and Grover.

They all thought Grover would fly straight into Hades' palace, but he did the unthinkable. He veered for a sharp right turn and dragged both boys in the opposite direction.

The slope got steeper. Grover picked up speed, pulling Naruto with him. Annabeth and Percy had to sprint to keep up. The cavern walls narrowed on either side. There was no more black grass or trees now, just rock underfoot, and the dim light of the stalactites above.

"Grover!" Percy yelled, my voice echoing. "Hold on to something!"

"What?!" he yelled back.

"I can't hold on anymore! Oof–" Naruto's face got scratched by the small rocks which, adding to his already tired arms, made him release his grip. "Ow…"

Grover was trying to grab at gravel, but there was nothing big enough to slow him down.

The tunnel got darker and colder. The hairs on the demigods' arms bristled. It made them think of dark and evil thoughts.

The tunnel widened into a huge dark cavern, and in the middle was a chasm the size of a city block.

The demigods saw this and stopped dead in their tracks.

"That's–" Percy stuttered.

"Yeah, the place in your dreams." Annabeth replied.

Grover's yelling broke the two out of his stupor. He was already in the chasm. The two ran towards him.

Luckily, his hooves saved him. He managed to hug a huge rock and use it as an anchor. The shoes kept tugging themselves free from his hooves and flew into the chasm. The problem is Grover was already slipping, and his friends were too far to reach him. Before they even got to him, the satyrs arms gave in and fell into the chasm.

"No!" The two demigods shouted.

"Help!" Grover shouted to his friends.

From out of nowhere, Naruto came running in and jumped into the chase with a bunch of poofs on his trail. The original Naruto was able to grab onto Grovers ankles with a bunch of clones grabbing one another's ankles.

"I got you." Naruto said.

"Way to go Naruto!" Percy and Annabeth shouted from up top.

"Get me up! Get me up!" Grover panicked.

"Guys!" Naruto shouted to his clones.

"Yes sir!" All clones shouted and shot them, sling shot style, back up to their friends.

Everyone collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. Their limbs felt like lead. Percy didn't notice this, but his backpack felt heavier all of a sudden.

Grover and Naruto were scratched up pretty bad from the ride the winged shoes gave them. Grover's eyes had gone slit-pupiled due to his fear.

"I don't know how ..." the satyr panted. "I didn't..."

"Wait," Percy could hear a deep whisper in the darkness. "Listen."

Another few seconds, and Annabeth said, "Percy, this place-"

"What are you–" Naruto whispered.

"Shh." I stood.

The sound was getting louder, a muttering, evil voice from far, far below. It was coming from the pit.

Grover sat up. "Wh-what's that noise?"

Annabeth heard it too, now. I could see it in her eyes. "This is the entrance to–"

"Tartarus," Naruto agreed. "This made the quest a whole lot more complicated."

Percy uncapped Anaklusmos. The bronze sword expanded, gleaming in the darkness, and the evil voice seemed to falter, just for a moment, before resuming its chant.

Percy could almost make out words now, ancient, ancient words, older even than Greek. As if it was…

"Magic," Percy said.

"We have to get out of here. "Annabeth said.

Naruto helped Grover up, and slung his arm over his shoulder to help him walk.

"Come on, Grover." He said.

Percy was lagging behind the group. It seemed like his backpack weighed a ton. That all changed when the voice behind them got louder and angrier. That made the group break into a run to get out of the hall faster. Naruto even carried the satyr on his shoulders to move faster.

Just then, a cold wind pulled at their backs as if the pit behind them was inhaling. For a terrifying moment, the demigods were losing their footing on the gravel. Fortunately, due to Naruto's quick thinking, two clones scooped up Percy and Annabeth, and the three Naruto's sprinted out of the hall with chakra boosted steps.

When they finally reached the top of the tunnel where the cavern widened out to the Fields of Asphodel, the wind died, and a wail of outrage echoed from the tunnel they came from. Apparently, something or someone wasn't happy that they got away.

"That was close." Naruto panted as he lay collapsed on the ground with his friends.

"What was that?" Grover asked. "One of Hades' pets?"

"I doubt that." The older blonde answered.

"You don't mean…" Annabeth said.

The very idea of who was in the pit terrified the group. Even Naruto who had encountered terrifying shinobi back in the Elemental Nations was scared to bits. This was definitely on a whole other level that anything he faced before. They decided not to talk about it anymore, especially, not now that they are one room across the pit of Tartarus. Hades palace seemingly was the better place to be in right now, unless you wanted to walk around the Fields of Asphodel for eternity.

Percy capped his sword, put the pen away. "Let's keep going." He told his friend, and then turned to Grover to ask. "Can you walk?"

The satyr tried to swallow some saliva, though his mouth was dry. "Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway."

"Well then, let's go." Naruto said getting nods from his friends.

* * *

**HADES' PALACE**

The Furies circled the parapets, high in the gloom. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-tall bronze gates stood wide open.

Engraved on the gates were scenes of death. Some were from modern times, an atomic bomb exploding over a city, a trench filled with gas mask-wearing soldiers, a line of African famine victims waiting with empty bowls-but all of them looked as if they'd been etched into the bronze thousands of years ago.

"I wonder if these already happened." Naruto wondered aloud.

"Maybe they're prophecies," Percy added.

"Who knows." Grover said.

They headed inside the courtyard. It contained the strangest garden the demigods had ever seen. Multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as my fist, clumps of raw diamonds. Standing here and there like frozen party guests were Medusa's garden statues- petrified children, satyrs, and centaurs-all smiling grotesquely.

In the center of the garden was an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blooms neon bright in the dark.

"The garden of Persephone," Annabeth said. "Keep walking."

"So, she's a fan of Medusa's works." Naruto said. "Too bad we took her out."

"She'll reform eventually." Annabeth said.

"GROVER! NO!" Percy pulled Grover away. The satyr was about to eat some of the pomegranates from the tree. The tart smell from the fruit was overwhelming him.

"But I'm hungry…" The satyr complained.

"You can't Grover." Naruto explained. "Unless you want to live here."

"Yeah, Grover," Percy said. "Come on."

The group walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the Hades' residence. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which seemed to boil in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above.

Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear. Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulders. They carried spears or muskets or M-16s. None of the skeletons bothered them, but the hollow eye sockets followed them as they walked down the hall, toward the big set of doors at the opposite end.

Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at them; rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests.

"You know, I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen." Grover joked.

"Or solicitors," Naruto added.

"Or preachers," Percy added.

Percy's backpack weighed a ton now, but he remained quiet and decided to ignore it. He was psyching himself up to face the God of the Underworld.

"You ready, Percy?" Naruto asked.

"Will you take 'no' for an answer?" Percy said earning a round of half-hearted laughter from his friends.

"Well, guys," I said. "I suppose we should…uh…knock?"

A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors swung open. The guards stepped aside.

"I guess that means entrez-vous," Annabeth said.

The demigods entered the giant hall. At the end of the hall were two big thrones. One of which was empty. The empty throne was shaped like a black flower, gilded with gold, Persephone's throne. The other was made up of fused human bones. Sitting on it was Hades, himself.

He was at least ten feet tall, for one thing, and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair shoulder-length and jet black. He wasn't bulked up like Ares, but he radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther.

"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," he said in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

"_Probably, more foolish. It's Percy we're talking about." _Naruto thought. He would have said it aloud, but it wasn't the time to joke.

Numbness crept up to Percy's legs, but he fought the feeling and said, "Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests."

Hades raised an eyebrow. He sat forward in his throne. Shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment were stitched of trapped souls from the Fields of Punishment, trying to get out.

"_I wonder how bad you should be to end up in Hades' underwear." _The ADD part of Percy and Naruto thought.

"Only two requests?" Hades said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."

Percy didn't know what to say.

Annabeth cleared her throat. She prodded her finger on the Son of Poseidon's back.

"Lord Hades," Percy said. "Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be ... bad."

"Really bad," Grover added helpfully.

"Return Zeus's master bolt to me," Percy added/ "Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."

Hades' eyes grew dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"

Percy glanced back to his friends. The look of bewilderment was evident on their faces. They too were hearing this for the first time.

"Um ... Uncle," Percy said. "You keep saying 'after what you've done.' What exactly have I done?"

There was a strong tremor that could have been felt all the way up in Los Angeles. Debris fell from the cavern ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

* * *

**A/N: I guess I'm on a roll. Hopefully, next week I post again on Monday. **

**Read and Review. If you have suggestions, place them as a review.**

**Ja ne!**


	21. Escaping the Underworld

**Chapter 21**

A huge tremor shook the earth destroying buildings everywhere and causing fires to erupt from the damage. Many people scrambled from their day to day lives after they felt the wrath of the God of the Underworld.

Deep down below the earth, there was a confrontation between the said god and three demigods with their satyr protector.

"Do you think I want war, godling?" the Lord of the Dead bellowed.

"Well, the soldiers behind us tell a different story." The blonde shinobi said earning a hit on the shoulder from Annabeth.

"Stay out of this Son of Artemis." Hades said. "This is no time for jokes."

"The name's Naruto by the way." Naruto introduced himself.

"Yes, I have heard of you and your mother's fiasco." Hades said. "Frankly, I would like to have your soul once you die, but I'm afraid your soul goes back to the Shinigami of your world."

"I don't suppose my parents…"

Hades shook his head. "They're not here."

"Ahem…" Annabeth interjected. "The lightning bolt?"

"Oh yeah…" Percy remembered. "A war between the gods would expand your kingdom, right?"

"A typical thing for my brothers to say. Perhaps you didn't see the sprawl of souls on your way here? Do you think I need more subjects?"

"Uhhh…" was all the four could say.

"Do you have any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in the past century? How many subdivisions I had to open?"

The four couldn't speak.

"More security ghouls." Hades moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgment pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"

"Not to mention Charon wants a pay raise." Naruto said.

"Don't even get me started on him." He yelled at the blonde. "He's been begging me for that ever since he discovered Italian Suits. These problems everywhere, I have to handle myself. The commute time myself is enough to drive me insane. And the dead don't stop coming. No demigod, I did not ask for this war."

"But you…" Percy was about to say, but Naruto stopped him. The son of Poseidon looked at him and the blonde shook his head.

Hades rose from his throne. From the perspective of the demigods, he was as tall as a football goalpost. "You and your father may fool Zeus, boy, but you won't fool me. I see your plan."

"What plan?" Percy asked.

"You were the thief on the winter solstice," Hades accused. "Your father thought he could keep you as his little secret. He directed you into the throne room on Olympus, took the master bolt and my helm. Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at Yancy Academy, Poseidon might have succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helm back!"

"Wait a minute, Lord Hades…" Annabeth said. "Your helm is missing too?"

Do not play innocent with me, girl. You, the satyr and that boy have been helping this hero come here to threaten me in Poseidon's name, no doubt to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?

"Wait just a darn minute." Naruto said, his eyes flickering from blue to red. "Percy hasn't even been to Olympus. Why are you blaming it on him?"

"SILENCE!" Hades yelled at the blonde. "I am not afraid of your power, boy. You are just a weapon brought into this world by your mother, no doubt to aid her father in the war. Those Olympians have the gall to send someone to threaten me hear in abode when no one would offer me the slightest justice, the slightest help. It was bad enough I had to keep the word of my greatest weapon from leaking out. So, I searched for you myself, and when it was clear you were coming to my domain to deliver your little threat, I did not try to stop you."

Percy, Annabeth and Grover recoiled at Hades' mention of Naruto's power.

"Naruto–" Annabeth tried to ask.

"I'm sorry Annabeth, Perce, Grover. I have been dodging this topic for along time now, but this isn't the time for that. I promise I will tell you when I'm ready." Naruto apologized.

The blonde turned to the God of the Dead. "Oh please, Lord Hades. What do you call the Minotaur, Echidna and the Chimera?"

"Don't talk to me in that tone boy. You are lucky that I still need my Helm from you. If not, I would have vaporized you on the spot." Hades snarled. "Return my helm now, or I will stop death. That is my counterproposal. Or better yet, I will open the earth and have the dead pour back out into the surface world. And you Percy Jackson, your skeleton will lead the armies of the dead out."

The skeletal soldiers stepped forward cocking their guns and brandishing their swords and shields.

It was Percy's turn to get mad this time. "You're as bad as Zeus. You think I stole from you even I haven't been to Olympus yet. Then, you send your furies and monster after me."

"Monsters? To answer your question, Naruto Uzumaki, I had nothing to do with them. I didn't want to give a swift death. I wanted you brought before me alive so I could subject you to every form of torture available in the Fields of Punishment. Why do you think I let you into my kingdom so easily?"

"Easily? There were security ghouls looking for us."

Hades ignored him. "Return my helm! Now!"

"I don't have your helm. I came here to get the Master Bolt from you. Or that was the plan at least."

"Which is already in your possession." Hades shouted. "You came here with it, fool, thinking you could threaten me!"

"But I didn't–"

"Open your pack, then."

A horrible feeling struck Percy. "The weight on my backpack… On our way here… It can't be…"

"Perce, what are you talking about?" Grover said.

Percy slung off his backpack and unzipped it. inside it was the a two-foot long metallic cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.

"Percy," Annabeth said. "How–"

"You mean, you already felt this happening on the way here?" Naruto asked.

"I-I don't know. I don't understand it either. I didn't think it was important at that time. I thought you guys were playing pranks." Percy explained. Well, at least he tried to.

"We weren't, Perce. You should have said something." Naruto scolded.

"All you heroes are the same." Hades said. "Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. I did not ask for Zeus's master bolt, but since it is here, you will yield it to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now ... my helm. Where is it?"

"Lord Hades, wait," Percy said. "This is all a mistake."

"A mistake?" Hades roared.

The skeleton warriors behind them began to take aim. From somewhere up above, there was a familiar fluttering of leathery wings. The Furies swooped down to perch on top of their master's throne. On of them, the one Naruto and Percy recognized as Mrs. Dodds, grinned eagerly and flicked her whip.

Hades shook his head. "There is no mistake, Percy Jackson. I know why you come here bearing the weapon of Zeus."

Hades flicked his wrist, and loosened a ball of golden fire from his palm. The flames exploded revealing the Sally Jackson frozen at the moment the Minotaur began to squeeze her to death.

"Mom…"

"Aunt Sally…"

Naruto and Percy said in unison. Memories of the battle they had with Pasiphae's son resurfaced on their minds.

Annabeth and Grover each placed a hand on each of their shoulders respectively.

"Yes," Hades said with satisfaction. "I took her. I knew that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return my weapon, and perhaps I will let her go. Displease me, and she will stay here forever."

Percy placed his hands in his pockets and held the pearls in his palms. _"These could save my mom." _He thought

"Ah, the pearls." Hades said. "Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth."

Percy brought out the pearls and looked at them in his hand.

"Only four?" Hades chastised. "You do realize that each pearl only protects a single person. Try to take your mother then, demigod. Which of your friends will you sacrifice for her? Or give me the backpack and accept my terms."

Percy looked at his friends, their faces grim.

"We were tricked." Percy said. "Set up by someone."

"Yes, but why?" Annabeth asked. "Unless, the voice in the pit–"

Naruto placed a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "No not here. Not when we are so close to the pit."

"Perce, the backpack..." Grover brought something up. "It was given by–"

"Ares!" The four said together.

"But when?" Percy asked.

"Probably when he gave you the backpack." Naruto suggested. "Works like our pens somehow, but when we are close to the pit."

"Are you demigods, done?" Hades asked. "Let the boy decide."

"Percy, you can't give him the bolt!" Grover said.

"I know that." Percy answered.

"Use the last pearl on you mom." Grover suggested. "Leave me here."

Percy was deep in thought. All he did was shake his head.

"I'm a satyr." Grover argued. "He can torture me all he wants till I die, but he won't have me forever. I'll reincarnate as a flower or something."

"No!" Annabeth argued back. "You three go. Grover, you have to get out of here safely, and protect Percy so you could get your searcher's license. Get out of here so you could live your dream."

"No way! I would still have failed if you were left down here." Grover said. "I'm staying."

"Think again, goat boy!" Annabeth said.

"OW!" The two exclaimed. Naruto had hit them in the head. "What did you do that for?"

"You do realize that I was the one who forced myself into this quest despite Chiron's warnings. And besides, I promised the old centaur I would keep an eye on you. He would kill me if anyone of you were to die here." Naruto explained his side.

"NO!" The two shot down the older blonde's idea causing him to sigh.

The arguing continued, this time the blonde didn't even try to jump in with them.

"You shall fail to save what matters most in the end." Percy murmured.

Naruto smiled. He had picked up the same idea as Percy.

"Guys! Stop!" Percy shouted to get the attention of the two who were arguing. "I know what to do!"

Percy turned to his mother. "I'm sorry. I'll find another way."

"What?" Annabeth and Grover said.

Even Hades didn't understand what was happening. The smug look on his face disappeared instantly. "Godling?" All he could do was watch as the son of Poseidon handed each of his friends a pearl.

When he was done, Percy turned to Hades, "I'll find your Helm, Uncle. I'll return it. And don't forget about Charon's pay raise."

"Do not defy–" Hades yelled.

"Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while." Annabeth chimed in.

"Percy Jackson, you will not–"

"Guys now!" Percy shouted. Each of them smashed a pearl at their feet. Nothing happened.

"DESTROY THEM!" Hades shouted with full rage.

The skeleton warriors charged. The ones with guns clicked their weapons at full automatic. The furies threw their flaming whips at them. Naruto began to build power, while the three closed their eyes to brace themselves.

Just then, green mist covered the demigods protecting them from the attacks and a milky white sphere encased them all. The sphere floated up through the walls of the caverns. The demigod closed their eyes to brace themselves as they were going to hit the wall.

Hades yelled in rage and threw curses as he watched the demigods escaping. Another earthquake shook his domain. Los Angeles was not having a peaceful night.

"FOLLOW THEM TO THE SUFACE WORLD!" Hades ordered the Furies.

* * *

**SANTA MONICA BAY**

The bubbles they were in continued to go up higher even after they hit the Underworld ceiling.

When the demigods opened their eyes, the bubbles bloked roke through surface of the Bay. They even knocked a surfer off his board.

Percy grabbed Grover to drag him over to a life buoy. Naruto did the same to Annabeth. A curious great white shark was circling around them.

"Beat it!" Percy said, causing the shark to turn and race away.

The surfer dude raced away screaming about bad mushrooms or something.

"I'm so going to kill Ares." Percy said.

"But he's a god Percy." Annabeth said.

"Don't worry. I'll have his back on this." Naruto said.

"Guys, don't tell me it's…" Grover said.

"Yes it's the 21st already." Percy said.

Naruto looked over to the city. Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke were rising from neighborhoods all over the city. Apparently, Hades' outburst a while back affected the mortal world.

"We have to get to Olympus now!" Annabeth said. "It's the solstice. We have to return the lightning bolt."

The sound of motor cut off their conversation.

A Coast Guard boat was approaching them to pick them up, but they were too busy to keep them for long or to wonder why four kids were in street clothes got to the middle of the bay. Their radio was jammed with distress calls. The kids from the bay were the least of their worries.

The demigods were dropped off at Santa Monica Pier with towels wrapped around them and water bottles the read I'M A JUNIOR COAST GUARD plastered around it.

After drying off for a bit, they stumbled on the beach, watching the city burn against a beautiful sunrise. It was so refreshing to see this, especially after coming from the Underworld and all.

"I can't believe our little theory was right." Annabeth said. "I was hoping we were when we made it to the Underworld but–"

"The prophecy came true." Percy said. "We were all thinking that Hades was the culprit." Percy said.

"I think you mean hoping." Naruto corrected.

"I can't help but agree." Grover commented. "But who would be so sneaky–"

A big familiar man in a black leather duster cut him off. "Hey kids, you were supposed to be dead."

"You tricked me," Percy yelled. "You stole the helm AND the master bolt"

Ares gave out a wide grin. "Well now, I didn't steal them personally. As you know, we gods can't steal each other's symbol of power. It's a big no no, but you're not the only heroes who can run errands."

"Who did you use?" Annabeth gritted her teeth. "Was it Clarisse? Or maybe another one of you children?"

"Doesn't matter." Ares shrugged. "Point is, kids, you're impeding the war effort. See, you were supposed to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse breath will have Zeus' Master Bolt, so Zeus'll be mad at him. And Hades will be looking for this."

He pulled out a ski cap, the kind worn by bank robbers, and placed it on the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transformed into a bronze war helmet.

"The helm of darkness." Grover gasped.

"Exactly," Ares said. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon because he doesn't know who took this. Pretty soon, there'll be a three way slugfest."

"But they're your family!" Annabeth protested.

"That's the best kind of war." Ares shrugged. "Always the bloodiest. There's nothing like watching your relatives fight. Besides, it would knock those three down a peg."

"You gave us the backpack in Denver." Percy said. "It was in there the whole time."

"Well, yes and no." Ares said. "It's too complicated for your little mortal brain to follow. Basically, the backpack is the master bolt's sheath, just morphed a little. The bolt is connected to it, kinda like that sword you got. It always returns to your pocket, right?"

Percy didn't react.

"Anyway, I tinkered with the magic a little, so the bolt would only return to its sheath once you punks are in the Underworld. The closer you get to Hades…Bingo, you got mail. If you died along the way, no loss. I still had the weapon."

"The bolt was already in the bag when we were getting sucked in the pit, right Percy?" Naruto asked the son of Poseidon.

Percy nodded.

"What if we got sucked in that pit? Then, you would have lost the weapon."

"That's–" Ares twitched.

"Yeah, you could've also kept the weapon to yourself." Annabeth added. "Why send it to Hades."

Ares said nothing for a few seconds. It was like he was in a trance, waiting for instructions from deep inside his head.

"Fire power… why didn't I?" He mumbled.

"It's like he's in some kind of genjutsu." Naruto commented.

The others gulped.

This time, Ares face cleared. "If you guys were sucked in that pit, Zeus still didn't have the weapon, there'll still be a war. And sending it to Hades? Keeping the bolt for myself was just trouble. Besides, it was better to have you punks caught red handed holding the bolt."

"Heh," Naruto smirked. "You didn't plan for us to get sucked in the pit, did you?"

"OF COURSE I PLANNED IT!" Ares roared smoke drifting from his sunglasses as if they were catching fire.

"I don't think so." Percy shook his head. "Someone else was sent to steal the Bolt and the Helm. Then Zeus sent you along with the others to look for his weapon. You caught the thief, but you didn't turn him over to Zeus. Something convinced you to let him go. You kept the weapons until someone else could make the delivery."

"I AM THE GOD OF WAR! I TAKE ORDERS FROM NO ONE! I DON'T HAVE DREAMS!" Ares got angrier.

Naruto smirked even wider. "We didn't say anything about dreams."

Ares mouth hung wide open. He cleared his throat to regain his composure and smirked himself.

"Let's get back to the problem at hand punks. Old seaweed's kid is still alive. I can't have you return the bolt to Olympus. You might just get those idiots up there to listen to you. So, naturally, I have to kill you myself. Nothing personal." Ares said.

"Then again, maybe this is personal. Especially for you." He pointed to Naruto.

"Me?" The blonde asked.

"Yes, you." Ares answered. "Anything to piss off old Arty"

The god of war snapped his fingers. Just then, the sand beneath the demigod's feet exploded. A huge boar uglier than one hung over Cabin Seven's door. (Don't tell Clarisse I said that.) Fortunately, the blonde shinobi was able to create a clone and pull his friends out of the way.

A few feet away, the demigods and the two Narutos stood eyeing the boar. The said boar pawed the sand beneath its hooves, ready to charge.

"Hiding behind your overgrown porkchop, ey Ares?" Naruto taunted.

"Yeah!" Percy agreed. "If you want to kill me, fight me yourself."

"It would be a waste of energy." The god of war shrugged. "You're not at my level."

Ares snapped his fingers and the boar charged.

Percy and Naruto stepped forward to the surf.

"No guys! Run!" Annabeth warned the two.

As the boar rushed the two Percy side stepped the boar and uncapped his pen. Naruto, on the other hand, threw his pen in the air and back flipped to avoid the tusks and kicked pen at its but, and it flew toward the god of war.

The pen he kicked flew towards the god of war, while it changed into his three pronged kunai. He easily caught the weapon in his hand. "You have to do better than…"

He stopped what he was saying when he felt ichor drip from the side of his face. "How–"

Right behind him, the other three pronged kunai dug itself in the sand.

"WHY YOU?!" Ares roared.

* * *

**AT THE SAME TIME AS THE PREVIOUS EVENTS**

Percy, with his pen now uncapped and riptide in his hands, slashed upward severing the boar's right tusk in the process. This disoriented the huge animal.

At the same moment, Naruto, who was in the air, landed on the animal then brought out a kunai, and drove it to the back of the animal. The boar squealed in pain, but not for long as the son of Poseidon's sword sliced through its tusk.

In the background, the god of war roared in anger. "I WILL TURN YOU INTO A–"

Naruto didn't let him finish. "A tapeworm?" He asked. "A mutt? Taking the easy way out are we?"

Flames were dancing on his shades. "YOU'RE DEFINITELY DEAD MEAT!"

"Are we talking or are we fighting?" Naruto taunted.

"Or maybe you're going to hide behind another pig?"

"Naruto, Percy, don't do it! He's a god!" Annabeth shouted.

"God? He's a coward. Do you have my back Naruto?" Percy asked.

"All the way." Naruto said. "Let's go."

"Wait. How about some good luck." Annabeth said when an explosion permeated the air from where Ares was.

"You go Percy." Naruto offered. "I'll hold him off."

"Will you be okay?" Percy asked.

"Just don't take too long." Naruto said.

Naruto went on to take on Ares and Percy went to Annabeth to receive their charms.

"What do you have in mind?" Percy asked as the sound of steel clashing sounded behind them.

Annabeth took off her necklace containing her five years' worth of beads and her father's college ring and tied it Percy's neck.

"Reconcilliation." She said. "Athena and Poseidon together. I feel bad, though, I don't have anything for Naruto."

"Oh here." Grover took out a flattened tin can. "It's my lucky tin can. Give this to Naruto, later. We satyrs stand behind you."

Percy's face began to feel warm. "Gee.. Thanks guys."

Another explosion came from Naruto's battle with Ares.

* * *

Naruto panted as stood his ground in front of Ares, the fatigue from the battle beginning to show.

Ares cackled a sort of a crazy laugh. "Is that all you got, punk? I've been fighting for all of eternity. My strength is unlimited and I can't die. What have you got?"

Naruto was about to answer when Percy shouted, "You okay?" he asked as he ran to Naruto's side.

"I've been through worse." Naruto said in between pants.

"Here take this." Percy handed Grover's can. "A good luck charm from our satyr friend."

Naruto smiled as he placed the can in his pouch.

"Hey Ares, you know what we got?" Naruto said. "We got our friends with us."

"Yes, yes. They're going to die after you cocky punks." Ares said as he cleaved downward with a two handed great sword.

Percy was catapulted into the air with the aide of the water around him, while Naruto side stepped the blade, slid under the god of war, and delivered a kick to Ares' stomach knocking him to the air.

Four clones appeared in the air, and together was about to stab the god of war while in the air.

Unfortunately, Ares was able to twist in the air and slash through the four clones. Percy was able to block the strike, but he was knocked back down to the ground.

Ares landed on the ground with flare. He grinned. "Not bad, punks."

He slashed again, forcing the duo to jump back to dry land. Percy tried to get back into the water, but Ares knew what he wanted so he pressed harder for them to get as far from the water as possible. Naruto and Percy defended themselves as they exchanged swipes and slashes with their swords (and kunai for the case of Naruto) and tried their best to get back to the water.

The two tried to get in closer to Ares since the both of them had the shorter blades.

Percy went in for a thrust, but Ares anticipated that. He knocked Riptide out of his hands and kicked him in the chest. He went airborne for about twenty, or maybe thirty feet knocking Naruto back who was charging right behind Percy.

"Percy! Naruto! Cops!" Annabeth warned.

-TO BE CONTINUED-


	22. Tag Battle

**Chapter 22**

_DRIP DRIP DRIP_

"Urgh…" A blonde haired boy groaned. "What happened?"

_DRIP DRIP DRIP_

"On fuck!" The blonde rose with a start remembering his battle. "Ares!"

He looked around. He was in a dark room filled with pipes and dripping water. In one corner of the room was a hallway.

"Not this again…" Naruto complained.

The blonde stood up and stretched. He followed the corridor and found himself into huge room with a huge golden gate.

"**So, you're back…" **A voice said from inside the gate. **"I can sense you are up against one of those troublesome gods."**

"So you noticed." Naruto said. "Can we speed this up? I gotta get back to the fight."

"**You're here for more power." **The voice said again.

"Pretty much, yeah." The blonde replied. "You owe me rent after all."

The voice chuckled in his cage. **"Fine then! Indulge in my power!"**

Red chakra circled around him then covered him completely.

* * *

**SANTA MONICA BEACH**

"Naruto! Percy! Cops!" Annabeth warned.

"Urgh." Percy stirred and managed to get on his feet. He was seeing double now, but in the corner of his eyes, he could see the red lights flashing along the shoreline.

Beside him, Naruto stood up radiating with a new found power. His eyes were blazing red.

Grover gasped and went pale.

"What's wrong Grover?" Annabeth asked.

"I-I can sense… Naruto's… Killing intent…" Grover said.

Annabeth looked at Naruto. She could see a faint outline of red energy clinging to Naruto.

Meanwhile, sirens wailed as a couple of cop cars came rushing to the scene.

"There officer!" A bystander yelled to the officers. "See?"

A cop with a gruff voice said, "Looks like that kid on TV… What the hell…"

"That guys armed." The cop from the other car said. "Call for back up!"

Ares laughed out loud. "Is that all you got, punks? Where's all that big talk just now?"

The demigods gritted their teeth.

Naruto felt the red chakra coursing through his chakra network.

"You need to get back to the water to stand a chance, right?" Naruto said in a voice almost sounding like two people.

"Naruto? Wh-what are–" Percy asked.

"Right Percy?" Naruto reiterated.

"Y-yeah." Percy answered.

"Follow my lead." Naruto said.

In almost like a blur, he made the necessary handsigns. **"WIND STYLE: GREAT BREAKTHROUGH!"**

A huge gust of wind blew towards the god of war, but he was smart. He dug his sword into the ground and braced himself for the jutsu. As soon as the wind died, the blonde appeared right in front of him and hit him square in the face causing him to fly back to the water. Ares definitely didn't expect the extra power from the punch.

Percy followed him to the water and they both charged the god of war. As soon as he stepped into the water, all his senses opened up and he was reinvigorated with strength.

Naruto and Percy didn't give Ares time to recover. They immediately went to pressure Ares even more. The god of war was able to get to his feet and defend himself from consecutive attacks the two boys were throwing at him. But the problem is when he manages to block on one strike, another strike would scratch him (due to him narrowly dodging them).

Unfortunately, Ares' immortality and the fact that he has millennia worth of experience allowed him to continue fighting and managed to gain the upper hand. He started to pick apart the boys. Naruto, with all his shinobi training, and Percy, with his enhanced battle senses from the water, were barely able to defend themselves from the god.

More sirens blared signalling the arrival of three more cop cars.

"Drop the guns!" A policeman's voice said from a megaphone.

"Guns?" Percy asked aloud.

"The mist," was all Naruto said.

Percy looked at the god of war's weapon. It seemed to be flickering. One moment it was a two handed great sword. In another instance, it was a shotgun.

Ares glared at the horde of spectators and police, which resulted in a break in the fighting. There were five police cars now and a line of police officers crouching behind them, training their pistols at the demigods. Amidst the noise, the demigods could hear the flapping of leathery wings.

"This is a private matter!" Ares bellowed. "Be gone!"

He swept his hand, and a wall of red flame rolled across the police cars. The cops barely had enough time to dive to safety as their cars exploded. The crowd of onlookers ran away to safety.

Ares roared in laughter. "Now, little heroes. Let's add you to the barbecue."

Naruto dashed towards the god of war, and kicked him in the face and sent him spiralling back. Percy appeared behind Ares to hit him with the hilt of his sword, but the Ares twisted and sliced Percy in his mid-section.

The god of war grinned, but the guys he sliced poofed into white smoke and turned into a log.

"What?!" Ares exclaimed.

The real Percy rose from under water and went in for an attack. Ares was able to defend, and counterattack. Percy's battle reflexes kicked in and disarmed the god of war just like he did in camp training.

Naruto appeared in between them and slammed a blue orb of concentrated energy into the gut of the god of war, sending him back sinking under the ground.

The son of Poseidon was now panting hard. He realized that he was exerting power somewhere else. He was holding back the tide, and the pressure was building like the carbonation inside a soda can waiting to come out as soon as the can was opened.

"Naruto," Percy called out. He pointed to the now six foot wave building up from the built up tension of the tide.

Naruto grinned, and then nodded.

Ares rose from the water. The Rasengan hurt him alright; his shirt was now torn from where the jutsu hit him. Any normal human would have passed out or much less died. But, curse his immortality. He was a god after all.

Percy and Naruto lowered their weapons showing their fatigue. This gave the god of war confidence to continue the fight.

Percy, then released, the tide. A six-foot wall of water slammed itself into Ares, leaving him cursing and sputtering with a mouth of seaweed.

"**WATER STYLE: WATER SHARK BOMB JUTSU!"** Naruto yelled, and a shark made out water exploded at the back of Ares leaving him lying on the surf right in front of them.

Naruto and Percy did a high five after seeing what happened. After that, Percy stabbed Ares straight through the Ares' heel. The two, then walked to their friends.

"ARGH!" Ares yelled as the sea was blasted way around him sending the boys to the beach. The roar of Ares' power dwarfed the earthquake Hades did earlier.

Ares was now standing in a wet circle of sand about 50 feet wide. From his boot, golden ichor flowed from the wound Percy had inflicted earlier. On his face was a mixture of pain, hatred, and disbelief that he would be defeated and knocked around like a ragdoll.

He limped towards the beach muttering curses in Ancient Greek. The power the boys were feeling while they were fighting was now replaced by fatigue. They couldn't even defend themselves, much less get on their feet.

He could have finished both boys off at this chance he was given, but something stopped him.

A cold heavy presence passed over the beach, draining the colour from the area and the sound was muted. Time was slowed and the temperature was freezing.

The darkness lifted.

Ares looked stunned.

The water flowed back to around Ares' feet, dissipating the golden ichor in the tide. Annabeth and Grover watched in shock, while Percy and Naruto groggily sat up.

"You have made an enemy, godlings." Ares said. "You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson, Naruto Uzumaki. Beware."

His body began to glow.

"Percy! Naruto! Don't look!" Annabeth warned.

The boys averted their eyes as Ares revealed his true immortal form.

A few seconds later, the light died.

When the boys looked back, Ares was gone. The tide rolled out revealing Hades' Bronze Helm of Darkness. The boys slowly got to their feet, and made their way to the Helm to pick it up.

The flap of leathery wings now approached the boys as they made it to their friends. When they landed, the Fury who the boys recognized as Mrs. Dodds stepped forward. For once, she didn't look threatening. She looked more disappointed, like she was planning to drag the demigods back to the Underworld.

"We saw the whole thing…" She hissed. "So it really was not you…"

Percy nodded and tossed her the helmet. She caught it in surprise.

"Tell Lord Hades what really happened." Naruto said. "The war doesn't need to happen."

She hesitated, and then licked her lips with her forked tongue. "Live well, Percy Jackson, Naruto Uzumaki. Become true heroes. If you do not, and come into my clutches again." The fury cackled.

Annabeth immediately grabbed the two boys and hugged the two boys.

"That was reckless even for you too boys." Annabeth said as a tear rolled down her cheek

Percy blushed.

Naruto ruffled Annabeth's hair.

The younger blonde let go for the two.

"THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!" Grover said as he knocked the two boys down to the ground making the boys wince in pain.

"More like terrifying." Annabeth corrected.

"Don't scare us like that again." She said as she and Grover helped the two boys up.

Naruto chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.

"Did you guys feel that… whatever it was?" Percy said.

"Guys… It must've been the Furies overhead." Grover offered.

Naruto shook her head. "I doubt that. We've encountered them before and it didn't feel like that."

The four were still in denial. The memories of what they had talked about in the cab on the way to Santa Monica resurfaced. None of them wanted to talk about it.

After a brief pause, Naruto said, "Grover, you felt the energy coming from me, did you?"

"Uhh…" Grover couldn't speak, but Naruto knew he did.

Naruto sighed. "I was hoping no one would ever know of this. I guess I owe you guys an explanation."

"Yes, you do, Naruto. We'll hold you to that" Annabeth said. "But for now, we've got to finish the quest."

"We have to get to New York by tonight." Percy said.

"But that's impossible." Annabeth said. "Unless we–"

"Fly," Percy finished her sentence.

"You mean like Fly, like an airplane?" The daughter of Athena clarified.

Percy nodded.

"That's a bad idea, Percy!" Grover said. "What if Zeus strikes you out of the sky?"

"I doubt he would that Grover." Naruto disagreed. "Not when we have his precious weapon in our possession."

"Right Zeus?" Naruto asked up in the sky.

* * *

A few moments after their conversation, the police, along with the press, had found them standing in the beach among the wreckage.

The group would have run away, if not for the police yelling, "Are you kids, okay? Where did the kidnapper go?"

They didn't know what to say. All that was in their mind was, _"Kidnapper?"_

The press had flooded them with questions about what it was like these past few days trying to get away from their kidnapped, but the demigods still didn't know what they were talking about. The press told them the whole story.

Apparently, it all started when these kids made a Greyhound Bus explode somewhere in New Jersey. Witnesses suddenly remembered seeing the leather clad Ares stalking the kids in bus. The kids fled to St. Louis with the kidnapper on their tail. The kidnapper had captured them there and caused an explosion there to get away. A concerned waitress in Denver had seen the kidnapper threaten the kids in a parking lot. Finally, here in Santa Monica, the older boys decided to fight back and protect their friends.

All the demigods did was act exhausted and tearful in front of the camera.

"All I want…" Percy said in an interview, "is to see my loving stepfather again. Every time I saw him on TV, calling me a delinquent punk, I knew… *sniffle*… somehow… we would be okay. And I know he'll want to reward each and every person in this beautiful city with a free major appliance from his store for helping us. Here's the phone number."

It was hard for the two demigods and satyr who were listening to keep up their act when Percy was interviewed. It was a good thing they were able to hold in their laughter while Percy was talking. On the other hand, the police and the media listening were so moved by Percy's speech that they raised money for the four tickets for the demigods.

At the airport, Naruto and Percy followed Annabeth's lead. Neither of them had been in the air before. One of them was so excited to try flying, while the other one was so nervous, his shirt got wet from the sweat. You can make a guess on who was feeling which.

Take off was a nightmare for Percy. Every bit of turbulence almost made him wet his pants. He was gripping his armrest for the whole trip. During the trip, he hoped and prayed that Zeus would cut him some slack just this once considering the circumstances.

Once during the trip, Percy suddenly grabbed Annabeth's hand which made the latter blush. The daughter of Athena blushed after what happened, but she didn't say anything. She understood her friend.

Naruto, the other hand, had his face glued to the window the whole time. He raised his hands whenever there was turbulence since it made him feel like riding a carnival ride.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" Naruto said as quietly as he could.

"Geez Naruto. Calm down." Grover said.

"Sorry, sorry. I can't help it." Naruto answered.

Many of the passengers were staring at him like he was a crazy person. Poor Grover had to come up with an excuse for how Naruto was acting. His skills in lying hadn't improved at all. Luckily, the passengers believed him. They just passed off Grover's signs when he was lying as him being embarrassed.

Finally, after what felt like a long flight (the demigods were ADHD after all), they touched down safely at La Guardia. As the demigods expected, the press was waiting for them. It was a good thing they had a shinobi with them. So, after everyone else had deplaned, Naruto created four clones to deal with the press while they sneak away.

Once they were sure no one else would see them, they split up at the taxi stand. It was hard for them to do so after everything they've been through. But, Naruto explained that they had to. He told them, that they had to go and report the quest as a success to stop the demigods back at camp from fighting any further. Naruto presented himself to go with Percy to provide back up, in case anything untoward happens.

Naruto wouldn't admit it, but he wanted to see Mount Olympus for himself. He wanted to check out the place and see if the waitress in the Lotus Hotel was right. He wanted to see if there really was an Ichiraku's Ramen Stand in the godly mountain.

Naruto and Percy hopped into their own taxi after Annabeth and Grover hopped into their own. In 30 minutes, they made it to their destination.

Despite living on this world for quite some time now, Naruto still marvelled at the architecture of the had never seen anything quite like this in the Elemental Nations.

Not wasting any more time, the two boys entered the Empire State. They must have looked like homeless kids since their clothes were in tatters from their previous encounter. They decided to leave it be since they had to complete the quest.

Together, the two walked up to the guard at the front desk.

"Six hundredth floor please." Percy said.

The guard was reading a book with a picture of a boy in glasses riding a broomstick. Naruto tried reading some of those books, but he wasn't much of a fan of the people who could only do magic with a wooden stick. Not when he can perform similar feats with a quick handsign. Plus he heard of those other wizards who go on quests just like these demigods did, and just like he did back in the elemental nations.

The guard must have found the book interesting because he didn't even look up when he said, "No such floor kiddo."

"I need an audience with Zeus." Percy pressed.

He gave Percy a vacant smile. "Sorry?"

"You heard the man." Naruto said.

The boys almost decided that the guy was a regular mortal, but the guard said, "No appointment, no audience kiddos. Lord Zeus doesn't see anyone unannounced."

"Show him." The blonde shinobi said.

Percy grinned and unzipped his bag. "Really? Not even with this?"

The guard momentarily looked up from his book, and his eyes instantly went as wide as dinner plates and the color drained from his face, "That isn't…"

"It's the real deal." Naruto said. "You better get us up there before Zeus wreaks havoc on America."

The guard scrambled out of his chair, and fumbled around his desk for a key card, then handed it to Percy.

"Insert this in the security slot, and make sure no one is with you in the elevator." The guard instructed.

"What if we brought someone else up there? Like a mortal?" Percy asked.

"Oh kid, you don't wanna know." The guard answered. "You should get going."

With that, the demigods made their way to the elevator. Percy did as the guard instructed. The card disappeared in the slot and a new button appeared on the console. It was a big red button with the number 600 written on it.

Percy pressed it and they were on their way. Muzak played in the elevator while they waited.

_Raindrops keep falling on my head…_

Finally, the elevator made a ding sound signalling their arrival at gods' mountain. What they saw made the boys awestruck.

From the top of the clouds, the decapitated peak of the mountain could be seen, with its summit covered in snow. On the mountainside, dozens of multileveled palaces stood perched to the mountain. It was a city of mansions, all of them with columned porticos, gilded terraces and bronze braziers carrying thousands of fires throughout the city. Roads wound crazily up the peak, where the largest palace gleamed against the snow.

Perched on the side of the mountain was a garden filled with olive trees and rose bushes. In the distance, the demigods could make out an open air market with colourful tents, a stone amphitheatre on one side of the mountain and a hippodrome and a coliseum on the other side.

It was what you would imagine an Ancient Greek city would be, except it wasn't in ruins. Everything was alive and well, just like what Athens would have looked like long ago.

"And here I thought New York was the most outrageous thing I would see in my lifetime." Naruto managed to say admits his awe.

After getting over their shock, Naruto and Percy made their way through Olympus.

The first thing they passed through was an olive tree. Residing in the tree was a group of wood nymphs. They threw olives at the demigods, which hit Percy a few times, but not Naruto. The blonde was able to snatch the olives from the air. He gave them cold stare, and when the nymphs realized who his godly parent is, they scurried away and his in the trees.

In the Hawkers in the market they saw earlier, vendors hounded them to buy their goods of all different kinds. They were offered to buy ambrosia on a stick, a new shield, and also a replica of the Golden Fleece (as seen on Hephaestus TV). On one side of the market, Naruto got distracted by the Ichiraku Ramen stand which was the reason he wanted to accompany Percy to Mount Olympus. Percy to drag him and remind him of the quest they had to complete.

In the park, the Nine Muses were tuning their instruments for a concert. There was a small crowd of satyrs, naiads and a bunch of good looking teenagers who Naruto figured were minor gods and goddesses. Nobody seemed to be worried about an impending civil war. Several of the minor gods whispered among themselves when the two passed.

After a little bit of walking, the two boys climbed the main road towards the big palace at the peak.

"Hey Perce, doesn't that palace look familiar?" Naruto asked his friend.

Percy took a look at the palace. "Now that you mention it…"

"It's like our friend downstairs' palace, right."

"Yeah, it's just more colourful and glittery."

"It's just sad, you know. Hades isn't allowed up here, so he built his palace to look like this."

"Yeah…"

Steps they climbed led up to a central courtyard. Beyond that, there was the throne room. Scrap that, room wasn't even enough to describe this room. This room made the Grand Central Station look like a broom closet.

There were massive columns that rose through a domed ceiling which was gilded with moving constellations. An enormous fire crackled in the central hearth pit. Twelve giant thrones were arranged in an inverted U pattern just like the Cabins at Camp Half Blood.

Only two of the thrones were occupied, the head throne and the one on its immediate left. The gods waiting for them were in their giant form, just as Hades had been when the demigods met him.

The one on the Head Throne was wearing a dark blue pinstriped suit. He sat on a simple throne made of solid platinum. He had a well-trimmed beard, marbled grey and black like a storm cloud. His face was proud and handsome and grim, his eyes rainy grey. This was Zeus, the Lord of the Gods.

As they approached them, the demigods could smell ozone in the air, and their bodies were starting to tingle.

The god next to him was dressed very differently. He wore leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a Tommy Bahama shirt with coconuts and parrots all over it. His skin was deeply tanned, and his hands scarred like an old-time fisherman's. His hair was black, and his face had that same brooding look that could be seen on Percy's face sometimes. His eyes were sea-green just like Percy's.

His throne was a deep-sea fisherman's chair. It was the simple swivelling kind, with a black leather seatand a built-in holster for a fishing pole. Instead of a pole, the holster held a bronze trident, flickering with green light around the tips. This was Poseidon, God of the Seas

The gods weren't moving or speaking, but there was tension in the air, as if they'd just finished an argument.

Percy walked to Poseidon first, while Naruto bowed to Zeus.

"Father," Percy said to Poseidon.

"Lord Zeus," Naruto greeted.

Then, the boys switched places and greeted the other god that they didn't greet.

"You should learn from your friend here, boy." Zeus said to Percy. "Should you not address the master of this house first?"

The two boys kept their heads down.

"Peace, brother." Poseidon finally said. "It is only right that the boy defers to his father."

"You still claim him then?" Zeus said menacingly. "You claim this child whom you sired against our sacred oath?"

"I have admitted my wrongdoing." Poseidon said. "Now, let us hear him speak."

* * *

**A/N: This story took longer than expected. Now, I am almost done. I hope I get to finish this within the next chapter.**

**That's it for me **

**Ja ne!**


	23. Homecoming

**Charpter 23**

A cab rolled in in the middle of nowhere. There were picket fences with signs of PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES plastered on it.

"Are you sure about this, kids?" The cab driver asked.

The two of them nodded.

"We get that a lot…" A blonde haired girl said.

"So, you own this place?" The cab driver tried to make small talk.

"Yeah you could say that." A satyr said. Of course, the driver didn't know that.

"Well, if you say so…" The cab driver relented.

The two kids in the back seat paid the driver and got off the cab. They walked through the fences and climbed up a hill, revealing a summer camp, with Greek Architecture all around. The campers greeted them as they walked through. They walked up to a sky blue farmhouse where two men were playing cards in its porch.

"Ah Annabeth and Grover." The man on a wheel chair greeted. "You're back."

"Hey Chiron, Hey Mr. D." The two answered.

The other porky man (Don't tell him I called him that.) who was Mr. D didn't even look up from his cards. "I assume the quest is a success?"

The two nodded.

"That's a relief." Chiron said. "But where are Naruto and Percy?"

"Well…"

* * *

**MOUNT OLYMPUS**

"I have spared him once already!" The King of the Gods complained. "Daring to fly through my domain… Pah! I should have blasted him out of the sky for his impudence."

"And risk destroying your own Master Bolt and unleash IT unto this world?" Poseidon asked calmly.

Percy looked confused not knowing what IT was?

"Not to mention the other innocent people in the plane with us." Naruto grumbled to himself making sure the gods won't hear him.

"Let us at least hear him and his friend here out, brother." The gods of the seas said to his brother.

Zeus grumbled some more. "I shall listen." He decided. "Then, I shall make up my mind whether or not to cast this boy down from Olympus."

"Perseus and Naruto was it, address Lord Zeus. Tell him you story."

The two demigods recounted their whole ordeal, from the Fury revealing itself in the museum to the battle with Ares. Percy took out the Bolt from the bag Ares had given them way back in Denver. In the presence of its owner, the cylinder started sparking.

There was a deafening silence after they recounted their story with only the crackling of the hearth to fill in the silence.

Zeus opened his palm. The lightning bolt flew into it. As he closed his fist, the metallic points flared with electricity, until he was holding a twenty-foot long javelin hissing with energy.

"I sense that the boy is telling the truth." Zeus muttered. "But that Ares would do such a thing… it is most unlike him."

"He is proud and impulsive," Poseidon said. "It runs in the family."

Zeus flashed him an irritated look.

Percy and Naruto looked at each other. The latter signalled him to say it.

"Uhh Lord?" Percy asked.

"Yes?" Both gods said.

"Ares didn't act alone." Percy said.

"Someone, no no something came up with the idea." Naruto continued.

Percy described his dreams. Honestly, this was the first time he was hearing of this two since he was asleep when Percy told his dreams to Annabeth and Grover. Naruto even told them the momentarily breath of evil that seemed to stop the world and made Ares back off from the fight.

"In the dreams," Percy said. "The voice told me to bring the Bolt in the Underworld. Ares kind of told us that he'd been having dreams too. I think it was using Ares to start a war."

"So, you are accusing Hades after all." Zeus asked.

"Uhhh…" Percy didn't know what to say.

"No sir," Naruto explained. "Lord Zeus, we have been in the presence of Lord Hades. The feeling on the beach and the presence trying to pull us to the pit in the Underworld felt extremely different. We suspect it's something is stirring down there, something older than the gods. Plus, Percy mentioned someone called 'The Crooked One' from his dreams."

Zeus and Poseidon looked at each other. They had a quick and intense discussion in Ancient Greek. The two demigods in front of them didn't understand most of the words, but they caught one that they did understand. 'Father'

"_Could it be?" _Naruto thought. That word alone confirmed his and Annabeth's suspicions.

Poseidon tried to give some kind of suggestion, but Zeus raised his hand cutting him off. "We shall speak of this no more," Zeus said. "I must go personally to purify this thunderbolt in the waters of Lemnos to remove the human taint."

He rose. "Godlings, you have done me a service. Few heroes could have accomplished as much."

"We had help, sir." Percy said. "Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood–"

"To show my thanks, I shall spare your life. I do not trust you, Persues Jackson. I do not like what your arrival means to Olympus, but for the sake of peace in the family, I shall let you live."

"Th-thank you sir," Percy answered.

Then the God of Lightning turned to Naruto, "As for you, I shall let you continue staying in this world. I sense you have the wind affinity and the potential to learn the lightning affinity in the future. I must admit, I hate to have a demigod of your standards in this world, but for the sake of my daughter, you are free to stay, provided you use your talents for the good of Olympus, but if you fail to reel in your powers and misuse them against Olympus, I shall send you back to your world."

"Yes sir," Naruto said.

"And, Do not presume to fly again, Perseus Jackson. Do not let me find you two here when I return" He warned. "Otherwise, you shall taste this bolt, and it shall be your last sensation."

Percy gulped.

Thunder shook the palace. With a blinding flash of lightning, Zeus was gone.

"I see where Lord Dionysus gets his flair for dramatic exits." Naruto commented.

"Yes, well, he is Zeus' son after all." Poseidon said.

Naruto could sense that Poseidon wanted to speak with Percy in private, so he said, "Percy, certainly now I can go hit that ramen stand. I'm just dying to check it out. It's a pleasure to meet you Lord Poseidon. And Percy, meet me at the ramen stand later, I might not be done by then."

Poseidon nodded, then Naruto left.

"So that's Artemis' son." Poseidon said. "He's certainly different."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

* * *

Different teenagers approached Naruto as he wandered the streets of Olympus searching for the ramen stall he saw earlier. They must have been minor gods and goddesses.

After a while of walking and greeting, Naruto had made it to the Olympian branch of Ichiraku Ramen.

"One big bowl of miso ramen with every topping you have." Naruto ordered.

"Do you have drachma to pay for it?" the attendant asked.

"Of cou–" The blonde patted his pockets and the smile on his face disappeared.

"Oh yeah… I gave my pouch of drachma to Charon. Damn it!" Naruto grumbled aloud

"I'll take care of it." A child's voice said.

Naruto turned his head to see who said that. It was a nine year old girl with mousy brown hair and fiery red eyes which reminded him of Ares, except it was warm and comforting. She was dressed simply, but her beauty was evident. This is Hestia, goddess of the Hearth.

"L-lady Hestia?" Naruto asked.

"And make that two, please." Hestia told the attendant.

"Yes ma'am. Coming right up." The attendant said.

The goddess then turned to Naruto and greeted him. "Hello Naruto."

"To what do I owe this meeting?" The blonde asked.

"Oh I just came to see my niece's son." She answered. "You know, you have made quite the impression up here in Olympus after your quest."

Naruto smiled. "Well, I just did what had to be done to prevent your family from tearing each other apart. Plus, those kids were new to this quest thing. I just wanted to keep them safe."

"I see. That is admirable, protecting your friends like they're your own. And I thank you for looking out for my brothers. They can be hard-headed."

Naruto nodded as he took a sip on the ramen that the attendant placed on their table. "Family, it was something that I never had, but I don't want yours to fall apart just because of Zeus' Toy of Mass Destruction."

Thunder boomed, making Naruto frown.

"The Will of Fire, I sense it burns brightly in you." Hestia told him.

Naruto's eyes widened in realization. "B-but that's what Jiji said."

"Yes Naruto. " Hestia explained. "It was I who bequeathed the Will of Fire to the Hashirama seeing his drive and burning desire to protect the people even from his dear friend. The Fire in its name doesn't only come from the name of the Land where you are from, you know."

A sad smile crept to Naruto's face, All the memories of Sarutobi coming to visit him flooded back.

Hestia placed a hand on his shoulder. Naruto felt the warmth of the touch.

"Enough of the history lesson. This isn't the time for that. Your mother wanted me to see how you are doing."

"She did?" Naruto's eyes brightened. "Where is she, by the way?"

"Oh Naruto. Her domain keeps her busier than any of us here."

"I can't see her anytime soon, can I?"

Hestia shook her head. "You just have to be patient, Naruto. The time will come soon."

"At least I have something to look forward to, right?" The blonde grinned.

"Speaking of which, I was waiting for you to come and bring Zeus his Bolt. I wanted to ask you a favour." Hestia said.

"What is it, Lady Hestia?" Naruto asked.

"As you know, I am a virgin goddess. I do not have children of my own spread my domain. I would like you to be my champion."

"Me? Why me?"

"You never compromise when it comes to your friends. In fact, you see them as family. You also never stop fighting in what you believe in. Those qualities are what make you perfect to be my champion, so what you say?"

"I will make you proud." Naruto replied.

"I know you will Naruto." Hestia said.

Hestia was finished with her meal so she stood up prompting Naruto to stand up too. "That was an interesting meal. I am beginning to see why you see this as the food of the gods."

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"It's time for me to go, Naruto. Thank you for accepting my offer. From now on, you will have my blessing." Hestia said.

An orange aura enveloped Naruto and disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"No, thank you Lady Hestia." Naruto said.

"You can have as much ramen as you want. Let Percy have some when he comes over." Hestia offered.

Naruto literally had stars in his eyes. "Really?! You're the Best!"

Hestia nodded. "I have to go now Naruto. I'll see you back at camp."

* * *

**OLYMPIAN ICHIRAKU**

"I figured you were still here." Percy told the still eating blonde with a mountain of bowls on his table.

"Hey Percy. Want some ramen?" Naruto offered.

"Nah, I'm good." Percy declined. "Geez, where do you put all these stuff?"

Naruto grinned in between slurps.

"So how'd that talk with your dad go?" Naruto inquired.

"I don't know good, I guess." Percy shrugged and told Naruto the details. "Mom's at home now."

"Lord Hades kept his promise?"

Percy nodded.

"Then, what are we waiting for?"

"You?"

"Ohh sorry, let me finish this last one first."

* * *

**BACK IN THE MORTAL WORLD**

Percy hailed a cab so he could get back to the apartment. He almost forgot that he didn't have money on him. It was a good thing Naruto reminded him and lent him some. He was about to board the taxi when he noticed the blonde was hanging back.

"You coming?" Percy asked.

Naruto shook his head. "I think you got this, man. Besides, Gabe won't be happy to see me. And I got to see if Annabeth and Grover are okay."

Percy chuckled. "He'll be angrier with me. I basically offered the whole nation free appliances."

"Oh yeah! That," Naruto laughed as well.

"Well, I'll see you back at camp!"

Percy, then, went on his way to see his mother again, and Naruto hailed another cab to get to back to Camp.

* * *

**HALF BLOOD HILL**

"Naruto!" Annabeth and Grover shouted as soon as they saw the blonde at the hill.

"We were so worried that Zeus would smite you." Grover said.

"Well, I kept Percy in line for that one." Naruto chuckled.

"Speaking of him, where is the Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked.

"He went to see his mom. They're having their reunion as we speak." Naruto answered.

"Are you sure Percy would be okay? Gabe's gonna kill him." Grover sounded worried.

"He'll be fine. If this quest proves anything, it's that the Water Boy can handle anything that's thrown at him." Naruto answered.

Annabeth and Grover nodded.

"Ahhh. You're back Naruto." A voice said from behind them.

"Hey Chiron!" Naruto greeted. "It's good to be back."

"Come now, then, the camp would like to see you." Chiron said and gestured the three to follow him.

"_Naruto." _A voice whispered from somewhere.

The blonde whipped his head back as soon as he heard his name called. The odd thing was nobody was there. All he saw were the trees that surrounded the woods.

"Naruto! You coming?" Annabeth called him when he noticed that Naruto was lagging behind.

"_I'll find out later." _The blonde shinobi thought, then ran to catch up.

One by one, the campers came to greet Naruto as soon as they saw him. If he didn't have a lot of fans before, then he definitely had more now. It was like he won some kind of reality TV contest, which was closer to the truth than they thought because of Hephaestus TV.

An hour later, Percy arrived at camp. His friends greeted him at the borders of the camp. Just like with Naruto, the other campers came to greet him, but the difference now was the real party was beginning, if you could call this a party.

They were the first heroes since Luke to return alive from a quest, so it was a long time since they did this, but it was camp tradition for the returning heroes to wear laurel wreaths on their heads and have a big feast to honour them. They even led a procession to the bonfire, where they burned their burial shrouds their cabin mates made in their absence.

Annabeth's shroud was a beautiful grey silk with embroidered owls with the symbol of Athena in the middle. Percy said that it was a shame not to bury anyone in it. Annabeth punched him in the arm and told him to shut up. Naruto added that it was a good thing for it to be unused.

Since Percy didn't have any cabin mates, the Ares cabin had volunteered to make his shroud. They'd taken an old bedsheet and painted smiley faces with X'ed-out eyes around the border, and the word LOSER plastered in the middle of the shroud. Oh, Percy had fun burning his shroud.

Naruto's shroud was made by the Aphrodite cabin. Originally, the Apollo cabin wanted to make the shroud since they were his cousins, but a few bets and a capture the flag game when they were away, the Aphrodite cabin somehow won it. I guess they were that motivated. The children of the Love Goddess made a silver shroud with different animals embroidered on it and the symbol of Artemis in the middle. Naruto thought it was beautiful, so he reluctantly burned his shroud.

The Apollo cabin led a sing along in the Amphitheatre. As a special treat for tonight, there was dancing unlike the other times they did it. The campers had a blast as they danced to the different songs that the children of Apollo sang, even Grover who got awarded with his long desired searchers license. Well everyone except for one cabin counsellor of the Hermes Cabin.

Everyone was caught off guard when the music suddenly slowed.

The campers watched as Naruto walked up to Annabeth to ask her for a dance, which made the daughter of Athena blush like a tomato, but she accepted Naruto's offer in the end. Grover danced with a wood nymph, Juniper I think her name was. Katie from the Demeter cabin was offered a dance by Travis. And, Percy ended up dancing with Clarisse. At first, the daughter of Ares threatened to kill anyone who would ask her to. Naruto suggested that the Water Boy dance with her to make up for the unfortunate first impressions the two had.

"They kinda look good together." Naruto commented.

"Yeah, they both look so cute with the massive blushes on their faces." Annabeth added.

"Like you were any better earlier." Naruto snickered.

"Shut up blondie." Annabeth punched him in the arm.

"But, you're blonde too, so you can't use that."

"B-but, oh never mind."

When curfew struck, Mr. D clapped his hands and everyone went quiet. He made a half-hearted welcome back speech before the campers went to their cabins.

"Yes, yes, so the Bolt is returned and the brats didn't get themselves killed. Hoorah and all that. In other announcements, there will be no canoe races this Saturday…"

That night, Naruto moved back to Cabin Eight. Just like the Apollo Cabin in the morning, the Cabin was glowing silver in the the night.

"Odd, the cabin looks smaller than I remember." Naruto wondered aloud.

He quickly got settled in the room. On the headboard of his bed, there was another note.

_Dear Naruto,_

_Congratulations on completing your quest. You have made me proud. The hunters have told me of your meeting in the Water Bed Store. I am glad you are safe and keeping your friends safe._

_I felt the Kyubi's power leak out from the seal. Fair warning, son, Refrain from using the Fox's power too much as it takes a toll on you, especially the higher stages. I suggest you train hard, so you won't rely on it too much. There are different jutsus in the scrolls in your room. Why don't you try one of them?_

_Lastly, I heard from Hestia that you accepted her offer to be her champion. _I know you will do her and me proud.

_I hope I could have seen you when you were last in Olympus, but my domain keeps me away. Soon, my son, we will see each other. Become strong. I will always be watching you just as the moon watches over the night sky._

_Love,_

_Mom_

A tear ran down Naruto's cheeks as he read the note. It told him that wherever his mom is or whatever she is doing, she is still thinking of him.

"You got it, mom." He said aloud.

One week later, a letter arrived in the Big House addressed to Naruto and Percy. She wrote in the letter that Gabe had mysteriously disappeared off the planet. She had filed a missing persons report, but she had a funny feeling that he would never be found.

She also wrote about a life sized concrete sculpture to a collector in an art gallery in Soho. She named it 'The Poker Player.' She got so much money because of it that she was able to put a deposit down on a new apartment and made a payment on her first semester tuition at NYU. The gallery was clamouring for more of her work saying that it was "a huge step forward in super ugly neorealism" or so they say. She declined the offer saying that it was a one-time thing. She said that she disposed of the 'tools' that Percy gave. She would turn to writing completely.

She asked about Naruto, and why he didn't come to the apartment when the quest was finished. She told Naruto to not beat himself up about failing her. The important thing was she was back now. She also told him that Naruto is welcome to live with them so he wouldn't live alone anymore.

At the bottom, there was a PS for Percy. It said that Percy was signed up for a new private school. It said that there was a deposit down to hold his spot in case he wanted to enroll for seventh grade. It said that he could live at home, but if he wanted to stay year-round, it was okay.

The two decided that Percy should keep it.

Naruto told himself to scrape in extra offerings for Hades to place Gabe in the Fields of Punishment and to Athena for her blessing on Sally's education.

On the Fourth of July, the whole camp gathered at the beach to watch the fireworks display by Cabin Nine. The Hephaestus kids anchored a barge offshore and loaded it with rockets the size of Patriot missiles. Annabeth explained that the blasts would be sequenced so tightly that they'd look like frames of animation across the sky. The finale was supposed to be a couple of hundred-foot-tall Spartan warriors who would crackle to life above the ocean, fight a battle, and then explode into a million colours.

The three from the Lightning Bolt quest set a picnic blanket. While they were doing that, Grover showed up to say goodbye to his friends. He was dressed in his usual jeans and T-shirt and sneakers, only this time he looked older, almost high school age. His goatee had gotten thicker. He'd put on weight. His horns had grown at least an inch, so he now had to wear his rasta cap all the time to pass as human.

"I'm off," Grover said. "I came to… you know…"

His friends tried to sound upbeat. After all, this was a stepping stone for Grover's dream. They should be happy for him. They were his closest friends after all.

"So, Grover, where're you going to look first?" Percy asked.

"Kind of a secret," Grover answered, looking embarrassed. "I wish you could come with me, guys, but humans and Pan..."

"It's okay, man. We understand." Naruto clapped him on the shoulder.

"Always keep your fake feet on." Annabeth started to fuss over him.

"Yes Annabeth."

"You have enough cans for your trip?"

"Yeah."

"And you remembered your reed pipes?"

"I got it right here." Grover patted his pockets. "Geez Annabeth, you sound like my old mama goat."

He wasn't really annoyed.

"Well then, wish me luck."

He hugged his friends, and then headed back through the dunes.

Fireworks exploded to life overhead: Hercules killing the Nemean lion, Artemis chasing the boar, George Washington (who, by the way, was a son of Athena) cross-ing the Delaware, Naruto's whirlpool symbol at the back of his custom made camp shirts which was looking like a real whirlpool, a silver bow and arrow firing a shot to commemorate the first son Artemis, Poseidon raising the waves in the ocean.

"Hey Grover!" Percy called out.

He was at the edge of the woods, but he turned to look.

"Wherever you're going-I hope they make good enchiladas." Percy shouted.

"And smack those bullies with that stick of yours." Naruto added.

Grover grinned, and then he was gone, the trees closing around him.

"We'll see him again," Annabeth said.

The two boys nodded. Even though no searcher was able to return in 2000 years, they had to believe that Grover would be the first.

July passed.

The boys began planning strategies to keep the flag out of the Ares cabin's hands. On some occasions, Percy and Naruto would separate teams as a sort of friendly rivalry. On those times, Naruto's team proved to be better.

To keep things interesting, Naruto suggested a free for all against all the cabins to steal scrolls from the other teams just like in the Chunin Exam that Naruto attended. The other campers loved the idea, so they alternated between the two games.

As days gone by, Naruto tried to find the source of the voice, but he couldn't find it, or sometimes he didn't have the time. Things went on just like that until the last night of the summer session came all too quickly.

The campers had one more meal with each other. They burned part of their dinner for the gods. Naruto was sure to scrape in extra for his patron, and two other gods he asked favours from. At the bonfire, the senior counsellors awarded the end of summer beads.

Percy and Naruto each got their own leather necklace. The bead was pitch black and with a sea-green trident on one side and a silver bow on the other side.

"The choice was unanimous," Luke announced. "This bead commemorates the first Son of the Sea God and the first ever Son of the Huntress at this camp, and the quest they undertook into the darkest part of the Underworld to stop a war!"

The entire camp got to their feet and cheered. Even Ares's cabin felt obliged to stand.

Naruto was so happy. This was the first time he felt that he was part of a real family. The sad thing was, most of them would be leaving for the year. At least, they had a lot to look forward to.

* * *

**A/N: Geez. This Corona thing had me stranded in the provinces so I didn't have my laptop with me. After two months, I finally got home. During those two months, I had time to think about the direction of my story. **

**Now that I'm home, I can consistently continue writing. So, stay tuned.**

**Also I put up a poll, please answer so I know what to do.**

**Until the next time I post **

**Ja Ne!**


	24. The Prophecy is Fulfilled

**Chapter 24**

The day our heroes dreaded has finally arrived. A form appeared beside each and every demigod's bedside. The way it was filled out definitely told them that it was Mr. D, the camp director, who made it because all their names were spelled wrong.

Written on the note was:

_Dear ____ ,_

_If you intend to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, you must inform the Big House by noon today. If you do not announce your intentions, we will assume you have vacated your cabin or died a horrible death. Cleaning harpies will begin work at sundown. They will be authorized to eat any unregistered campers. All personal articles left behind will be incinerated in the lava pit._

_Have a nice day!_

_Mr. D (Dionysus)_

_Camp Director, Olympian Council #12_

One son of Artemis didn't know if he should stay year-round or leave the camp and finish school. But since it was the last day of camp and there are no more activities, he had a chance to look for the voice that called out to his name all those months ago.

Naruto trekked through half-blood hill, looking for any sign of where the voice might be. Just then, the voice came again.

"_Pst!" _The voice giggled.

Naruto whipped his head to where he thought he heard the voice.

"_Hey, Over here." _There it was again.

This time the blonde was sure where it was coming from. It was coming from the big pine tree at the border of camp.

"_Cool, you noticed. Come here." _It called out to him.

Naruto went straight to the origin of the voice. He wasn't sure what to do, but he placed a hand on the tree to examine it. That was the moment that he was sucked into the tree.

He was disoriented for a minute. He shook himself off his stupor to get his bearings.

A voice spoke. This time it wasn't a whisper. It was like he was face to face with owner of the voice.

"Finally, I get to meet you in person." The voice of a girl said.

Naruto looked up to see the girl he had dreamt of way back in the truck.

"Thalia?" Naruto asked.

The girl nodded. "Good, you remember me. I was thinking you would forget about me."

"I never forget a face." Naruto replied. "So, we really did meet in that dream."

"Yes, yes we did." Thalia said. "I was surprised you were able to enter my limbo."

"Beats me," Naruto shrugged. "Probably because I'm the son of the goddess of the wilderness."

"Maybe… Damn I'll never get used to that. You know virgin goddess and all."

They both laughed.

"Wait!" Naruto said suddenly realizing something. "Grover said you died it Half-Blood Hill."

Thalia shook her head. "My dad turned what remained of my life force into a tree, so here I am stuck to reliving my life over and over."

"So that's when…" Naruto started.

"Yeah..." Thalia said "So, I heard you prevented a civil war."

"How did you know?" The blonde asked.

"I hear everything that's happening around here. I'm basically protecting camp now, so yeah." The daughter of Zeus explained.

"Ohhh, I guess I should thank you then." Naruto bowed in gratitude. "We're able to live here in peace thanks to you."

"Don't mention it." Thalia shook it off. "I just wanted these kids to be safe."

They both smiled.

"Thanks for watching over Annabeth and Grover in the quest." Thalia said.

"No problem. It was their first time they were going out on quest, so I didn't want them to fail, or worse…." Naruto didn't need to finish that sentence. It brought him back to his first time out of the village when he froze when two chunnin attacked.

Thalia's expression hardened. "I sense that there might be some danger coming from you. It's been bugging me ever since we met."

"Oh yeah… About that…" Naruto didn't know how to explain it, but he told Thalia all the same.

* * *

**A FEW MINUTES LATER**

The two went on talking about their own lives. Thalia felt sorry for Naruto. It wasn't his fault that some kind of demon fox was sealed inside of him.

"Sorry about that… I didn't know…"

"It's fine." Naruto cut her off.

"Do Annabeth and Grover know?"

Naruto shook his head.

"It's not for me to say, but you should tell if you really trust them."

"I dunno. I told you how the villagers treated me."

"This time it will be different." Thalia put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "We're demigods, we know what it's like to be ignored and seen as a pest."

"Y-you're right. I'll gather up the courage to tell them."

"Good. I promise they'll be more accepting."

After she said that, a look of horror appeared on Thalia's face.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"How did I not feel that coming?" Thalia said. "One of the campers is…"

Naruto widened his eyes. He didn't want anything bad happen to his newfound family.

"I should get going. I might be able to save them."

"Be careful."

Thalia snapped her fingers and Naruto found himself out in the forest again.

"Oh no… Percy…" Naruto said aloud sensing Percy in danger.

The blonde shinobi jumped from tree to tree to get to his friend's aid as fast as he could. When he got to Percy's location, he was surprised to see Luke watching Percy succumb to his some kind of bug bite in his hand. A few feet from Percy was a scorpion with a slash wound on its abdomen.

Naruto threw some kunai at Luke but he deflected it with his sword.

Luke smirked. "Good of you to join us, Naruto, but you're too late."

Percy was now crawling to the creek. His hand was submerged in the water, but nothing was happening.

"So, you're the traitor." Naruto asked his kunai drawn. "You almost killed Grover with those shoes."

"I'll admit. I wasn't expecting you to join the quest, or this piece of shit to give my gift to Grover."

"You just didn't think this through."

"No matter. You've only delayed our plans. He will rise again and when that happens." Luke let out an evil laugh.

"Goodbye Naruto, Percy." Luke waved them farewell

Luke slashed his sword and he disappeared in a ripple of darkness.

"Help… Please…" Percy croaked.

"Oh no Perce…" Naruto said. "Hang on. I got you."

Naruto created about 50 clones to scour the area, and then slung the son of Poseidon on his shoulder and ran as fast as he could to the big house.

* * *

**THE BIG HOUSE**

Chiron was blowing a conch horn when he saw Naruto approaching with Percy slung on his shoulder seemingly in distress.

"What's wrong, my boy?" Chiron asked with worry in his voice. "What happened to Percy?"

"It's Luke, Chiron." Naruto explained. "He did this to him."

"You can explain later, my boy. We need to make sure he's alright." Chiron said.

Naruto nodded and brought him to the infirmary with Chiron in tow.

When they got there, Naruto laid Percy onto a bed. The centaur examined Percy.

"I recognize this mark. It is a bite from a Pit Scorpion. He had been poisoned."

Annabeth came running in. "I saw you carrying Percy here. What happened?"

"Should I tell her, Chiron? She might not like it." Naruto asked the Centaur.

The centaur nodded. "The campers need to know about this."

"Uhh you see. Luke poisoned Percy."

Annabeth stared at Naruto in disbelief.

"No," She managed to say. "You have to be wrong. Luke wouldn't …"

"I knew she would react like this. Dammit Chiron." Naruto muttered to himself.

"Luke told me everything Annabeth." Naruto narrated what he had learned from Luke while Chiron listened while treating Percy.

After Naruto was finished, the daughter of Athena had tears in her eyes.

"You should be betrayed by one who calls you friend." She said after a while.

"Yes," Naruto said. "I'm afraid that's what the prophecy is talking about."

"I still can't believe Luke would do something like this."

"No one was expected this."

Naruto walked forward and held Annabeth. The girl just sobbed into his chest. Naruto knew what it felt like to be betrayed by a friend. He understood what his friend was going through. After all, they had been through a lot.

Percy groaned breaking the moment.

Annabeth wiped her tears. "We better look after Percy."

"Yes, you better do that," Chiron said. "I shall report what we have learned to Olympus."

"Sure Chiron," Naruto replied. "Leave Percy to us."

Chiron nodded, and then galloped outside.

* * *

**A FEW HOURS LATER**

Percy's eyes fluttered open, only to find Annabeth feeding him nectar, Naruto dabbing the sweat on his forehead, and Argus at the doorway standing guard. Fortunately, the colour had returned to his face.

Percy raised his hand to massage his head, but he noticed his hand bandaged like a club.

"I thought I swatted that thing away." The son of Poseidon said.

"Apparently, you didn't." Naruto said. "Geez, Perce. You gave us quite the scare."

"Tell me about it." Percy scratched the back of his head with his other hand. "The water wasn't working at all earlier."

"Is it true?" Annabeth asked with hope in his voice.

"What?" Percy asked. "Do you mean…."

Annabeth nodded. "Luke…"

Percy looked at Naruto. The blonde gestured for him to go ahead.

"'Fraid so." Percy said.

The younger blonde hung her head low. "I was hoping you would say something different."

"What's with her?" Percy asked Naruto.

"She can't accept that Luke had deserted the camp." The blonde shinobi explained. "Anyway, how are you feeling?

"Like my insides have been frozen, then microwaved." Percy described.

"That's to be expected, considering how deadly Chiron said it was." Naruto said.

"Thanks for coming to get me." Percy thanked the blonde.

"Don't mention it." The blonde waved it off.

"Where's Chiron anyway?" Percy asked noticing the absence of the centaur.

"After treating you, he went to Olympus to report what happened." This time Annabeth spoke up.

Percy nodded, and then took a sip of nectar. The room was quiet after that.

"May the gods curse him…" Annabeth spoke aloud.

"What?" The two boys asked.

"Luke… He was never the same after his quest…" Annabeth said.

"You mean the one that gave him the scar?" Percy asked.

Annabeth nodded.

"Luke's out there right now." Percy suggested. "We should go after him."

"Uhh Percy, that isn't a good idea." Annabeth said.

"Lord Zeus closed this matter." Naruto said after.

"The stu–"

"Percy, choose your words carefully. You already went through his domain." Naruto reminded.

"Alright, alright! He won't even talk about Kronos! Which is why we have to do this ourselves!" Percy raised his voice.

"Revenge isn't the path you should walk down Percy. I have lost a friend to vengeance once already, I won't lose you too." Naruto explained.

"Besides, you're in no condition to engage, Luke. You can't even hold a sword now." Annabeth added.

"He could hit Luke with his hand. After all, it looks like a club." Naruto joked making Percy blush.

Annabeth punched Naruto in the arm. "Not now, Naruto."

"Ow!" The blonde complained. "Sorry, sorry."

"But we can't sit back and do nothing." Percy said.

"No, my boy." Chiron said as he entered the room. "We will sit back, but we are going to prepare. Remember, the Time Lord wants you to be unravelled. He wants you judgement to be clouded with fear and anger.

"Chiron, you're back!" Naruto and Annabeth said.

"Yes, well, Lord Zeus still doesn't want to talk about this matter."

"Figures," Naruto commented.

"But Chiron…" Percy tried to protest.

"We will prepare, Percy. Train hard. Your time will come." The centaur said with finality.

"Assuming I live that long…" The son of Poseidon grumbled.

Chiron walked to the bed and put a hand of Percy's shoulder. "You'll have to trust me, Percy. You will live. But first you must decide your path for the coming year. I cannot tell you the right choices, but you must decide whether to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, or return to the mortal world for seventh grade and be a summer camper. Think on that for now."

The centaur glanced at the only girl in the room. "Oh, and, Annabeth my dear ... whenever you're ready, they're here.

"Who's here?" Percy and Naruto asked together.

Nobody answered.

Chiron walked out of the room. All that can be heard were clops of Chiron's hooves on the wooden floor boards.

Annabeth studied Percy's drink.

Naruto placed a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "You okay?"

"I'm fine… I just took Percy's advice on something."

"When did I give you advice?"

Annabeth sighed. "You're hopeless sometimes."

"Give me a break. ADHD remember?"

Percy slip down his bed and tried to stand up.

"That's not a good idea, Perce." Naruto warned.

"But I want to…" A wave of nausea hit the injured boy. Fortunately, the older blonde was able to catch him as he crumpled to the ground.

"Told ya," Naruto scolded.

"I'm fine." Percy insisted. "I don't want to be lying here while Luke plots to destroy the Western World."

He managed a step forward, and then another, still leaning heavily on Naruto. Annabeth and Argus followed the two boys outside, with the latter keeping his distance.

By the time we reached the porch, Percy's face was beaded with sweat. He felt his stomach twist into knots. But he had managed to make it all the way to the railing.

It was dusk. The camp looked completely deserted. The cabins were dark and the volleyball pit silent. No canoes cut the surface of the lake. Beyond the woods and the strawberry fields, the Long Island Sound glittered in the last light of the sun.

"What are you going to do?" Annabeth asked Percy.

"I don't know." Percy shrugged. "I got a feeling Chiron wants me to stay year-round, so I can train more, but I'm not sure I want to, but I don't want to leave you two with only Clarisse for company."

Annabeth pursed her lips, and then said quietly, "I'm going home for the year, Percy. If anything, maybe only Naruto would stay alone with Clarisse."

"That's new to me." Naruto tilted his head. "And I haven't signed my form yet cause of all the madness, so I'm not sure either."

"Are you going to your dad's?" Percy asked.

Annabeth nodded. She pointed towards the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Next to Thalia's pine tree, at the very edge of the camp's magical boundaries, a family stood silhouetted-two little children, a woman, and a tall man with blond hair. They seemed to be waiting. The man was holding a backpack that the words WATERLAND plaster on it.

"I wrote him a letter when we got back," Annabeth explained. "Just like you suggested. I told him ... I was sorry. I'd come home for the school year if he still wanted me. He wrote back immediately. We decided ... we'd give it another try."

"That's good. But what are you going to do about the monsters?"

Annabeth was about to answer, but Naruto spoke up.

"I guess I know where I'm going for the year." The blonde announced.

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked.

"You could handle yourself on your own now, right Percy?" Naruto asked.

"You kidding? Of course! Why?" He asked.

"I can go with you to your house…" Naruto offered Annabeth.

Annabeth and Percy gave odd looks at Naruto.

Naruto got flustered and looked away.

"I mean, I can follow you there and stay at a hotel or something. What good are these millions of dollars I have sealed here if I don't use them?" Naruto said while scratching his head.

"A MILLION DOLLARS?"Annabeth and Percy exclaimed.

"Where'd you get that kind of money?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh didn't I tell you guys?" Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I won a lot of money back at the Lotus Hotel, and I managed to swipe Grover and Percy's cards."

"How did you manage that? Plus you're underaged." It was Percy's turn to ask.

"With a little luck and the **Henge** **No Jutsu**." Naruto explained nonchalantly.

"And you swiped my and Grover's cars?" Percy asked again.

"Pretty easy really. Super awesome ninja, remember?" Naruto reminded the two.

Annabeth punched him in the arm again.

"Hey–"

Naruto was about to protest but Annabeth kissed the older blonde on the cheek. "Anyway, That's so sweet of you Naruto."

Percy had a thumb up. "Yeah, I'm enough old to handle myself here. You can go and keep Wise Girl out of trouble."

"We'll see. In that case, don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." Naruto reminded.

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you." Percy joked.

"But aren't you the one with all the stupid?" Naruto teased.

"I can't agree with you more." Annabeth said.

"Sh-shut up Blondie." Percy said.

All three of them laughed at that.

"When we get back next summer," Annabeth started. "We'll hunt down Luke, We'll ask for a quest, but if we don't get approval, we'll sneak off and do it anyway. Agreed?"

"Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena." Percy said while Naruto nodded.

"Take care, Seaweed Brain. Keep your eyes open." She said offering a hand to the son of Poseidon. The two shook on it.

Annabeth turned to the blonde shinobi. "And Naruto. Iris Message me when you get to my house. I'll meet you there."

"Got it." Naruto grinned and gave her a thumb up.

Naruto and Percy watched her walk up the hill and join her family. She gave her father an awkward hug and looked back at the valley one last time. She touched Thalia's pine tree, then allowed herself to be lead over the crest and into the mortal world.

"I guess I better fill up my form and get packin'" Naruto voiced his thoughts.

"Take care of Annabeth, okay Naruto?" Percy said.

"I got it covered, dattebayo!" Naruto replied.

"Give this card to your mom. Just in case you guys need it to buy a luxury apartment or something. You can destroy it if you want or don't need it."

"I don't know how to thank you, man."

"Just hug Aunt Sally for me, kay?"

"That I can do."

The two bumped fists and went their separate ways.

END OF STORY

* * *

**A/N: I can't get this story to my standard length. That's the end of the source material. This story took longer than expected. I had to take a break on this story twice. The first time I had it planned and the second time, I never even expected it. Stupid Virus**

**I can't thank you all enough for tuning in to my fic. All of you supporters are what gives me the motivation to continue the story even though I was writing this story mostly for myself, cause you know, other writers take too long to update or the their story is discontinued/on hiatus. Although, now I realize that I kinda did that too, twice I may add.**

**Well, tune in to the sequel to this story. I am currently working on it.**

**Ja Ne!**


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